Two Restaurants One Soul
by Zen-Place
Summary: AU. An American boy goes to Japan from fast food to Gourmet dishes he meet's Souma and begins his new life in Tootsuki (First FanFic Insults Welcomed) Souma X harem
1. Prologue

Florida: Miami

Typing on the computer a boy with black hair leaned back "Tootsuki? What does that translate too?" he asked turning around to a shorter tomboyish girl with short length black hair and brown eyes.

"Do you really have to know? Anyway Dad said you have transfer there" she responded staring at the floor which was littered with bottles and fruit peels.

"Why? I'm still trying out for the basketball club" he complained to his sister who against all outward physical appearance was actually older than him by three years.

Dropping her head she did wonder about their fathers intentions but "You puked and passed out during the final day of tryouts" remembering having to get out of class early to pick him up. Falling to his knees the boy recalled the death like tryout session "You went to that school specifically because it had a good basketball team but it ended up being too good"

Complaining he yelled out "But Kent! Didn't you say Toot…"

"Tootsuki"

"Tootsuki isn't it in Japan? They have a different grade system than America I'll be a freshman! Again!"

"It doesn't matter besides I looked into it" Placing her hands on her hips she continued "It's the worlds greatest cooking school where only the elite can even consider joining" with a smile she continued "Only ten percent of the freshman class get to graduation the Alumni are treated as gods in the cooking world" what she was saying was if he did good he'll get a lot of money in return.

Thinking about money he mentioned another thing "Then shouldn't it be really expensive?" thinking about plane tickets and entry cost aside he personally didn't want to go to school with a bunch of egoist.

"They're using your college fund and you're savings"

Turning with a jolt he stared at her "What? I've been saving that for almost eight years now" shaking he thought his dad was being really serious now

"Don't worry you only spent it on a basketball hoop and food ingredients anyway"

He nodded seeing that was a good point "Why should I go though?" getting back up told her "Cooking's just a hobby for me I won't fit in" she pointed at the table.

"What is that?"

Picking up the dish he showed her a fruit plate arrangement with small colorful little circular pieces "Stamina food the coaches asked me to make something that quickly restores energy without any strange chemicals" taking a piece he put it in his mouth "Maybe a bit more lemon…"

Taking a piece Kent ended up being sent down a path of sizzling sour explosions with a sweet yet harmonic aftertaste almost as if she had just finished a world cup race and was basking in the glory of victory "You asked why this is a pretty good example" snapping back to reality she wondered just what he made.

Looking confused he started typing on the keyboard again "Still though if too much it might cause cramps or something but too little won't be sufficient" blinking her eyes Kent stared at the plate a bit "The coach also asked for a purely fruit dish too so I had to use something different then bread as a base" sounding complaints Kent sighed.

"Pack your things you're leaving for Japan in a few weeks" she told him feeling that he had nothing to worry about.

"Hey I still haven't agreed to this!" a ringing came from outside "I'll talk to dad my shift's over" walking out of the test room he got into the main kitchen.

Large but not too large, small but still big enough a silver metal kitchen with flames and blades in every which direction "Hey Sai you're back on?" one of the other chefs called in Spanish.

"Yeah dinner rush should begin in about ten minutes right? Let's do these quick" the other cooks all nodded as he stared at the orders that were lined up.

Kings Palace an Asian restaurant that specializes in Thai Cuisines located in an underground mall and did pretty well for itself having a steady rise in popularity since eight years ago thanks to the son of the accountant and business investor who had bought the restaurant.

Ten minutes before closing Sai was finishing preparations for tomorrow's dishes "Nice job Sai" one of the female workers told him. She was shorter then him with a roundish face but also had soft eyes that looked out for the boy.

"Thanks you too" putting down the knife he dropped the onions into a large bowl of water and placed a lid over the top he wiped his forehead "And now" rushing out he ran to the bar where only the bartender and a man in a black coat who was maybe in his fifties sat "Dad what's the deal about transferring?" he yelled.

Turning he took off his glasses "It's just as it sounds" he said taking a drink "Didn't you say you wanted to go to Japan?" he asked

"That was when Mom and Kent got to go on vacation! I don't want to live there" Although that would be a bit cool he always wanted to visit Akihabara being a computer nut who spends his time reading manga.

"See it'll be perfect" with a smile he offered Sai a seat.

"Not really can I have a sprite?" he asked the bartender who nodded seeing this was not a conversation he wanted to join.

"Sai what do you want to do in the future?" he started.

Skipping the life lessons and going straight to the discussion? Sai was actually a bit impressed "Not a clue but I still have time" with a shrug he responded taking the soda.

"No you don't you're already in high school it's time to decide what do you want to be" shaking his head he stared at Sai with a serious expression.

Seeing this Sai found it harder to refuse "Even if I do decide to go it's going to be expensive right? Dad I know I don't have that much of a college fund and most of my savings are for Zack's lessons and training" His little brother already known in the community of arts and crafts as a prodigal musician with the help of Sai who was doing everything he could to keep business here good.

"You don't need to worry about that I sent in a request along with that dish you made a while ago they agreed to have a tester come and see if you can apply for a scholarship and also pay for your travel cost" his dad already explained.

Sai remembered his dad giving him a really weird project for a dish that will still be good after leaving it for a few days without the use of preservatives. He ended up making a dish comprised mainly of potatoes believe it or not that worked too an extent "I was wondering what that was for" I've been had. He thought.

"He'll be here tomorrow give him a good dish and go to Japan okay" placing his hand on Sai's shoulders he asked this.

"You can't keep running from the inevitable please Sai do this" not finding a way to respond Sai got out of the bar and went to collect his stuff before they went home.

* * *

Japan:

After getting rid of the Land Sharks Souma was repainting the sign "I'm going to take over this shop" he smiled with a stare that gazed towards the future.

"Hey Souma I'm closing the shop for a few years" hearing his father's words the Japanese boy with a scar over his left eye fell of the ladder "So until I come back you're going to go to Tootsuki okay"

Two boys both force into going to Tootsuki what life awaits them on the other side?


	2. Chapter 1

Stepping off the plane a tall Asian boy was reading a book "Hajimemashite boku Shiokawa Sai" he practiced and closed the translation dictionary "I think I got it" he said with close Japanese "Good thing I watch a lot of anime" even if in some ways it completely ruins your life in reality sometimes it saves it.

Walking down the busy airport he looked around "Still to change my name just so it'll fit" he was surprised to find out his grandfather on his mother's side was actually Japanese so even though it took a lot of legal work Sai's name was successfully changed.

After exchanging the money he had he went out of the airport and stared at the refreshing night sky "Currently I'm in Tokyo Tootsuki should be close" looking at the map he was pretty sure it was supposed to be the middle of the day but couldn't complain about jet lag.

A few days ago a businessman came in when it was close to closing and asked to talk to Sai's father who introduced them "Mr. Jansil this is my son" nodding Sai bowed.

"Good to meet you I'm here to test if you will qualify for a grant" a bit thin for a chef but nerveless created a firm pressure with a simple pair of blue eyes.

"Alright what would you like" the night before he took a look into his brothers face who was already worlds away from him and decided on this.

"Whatever you like" with a firm expression Sai gave a small smile.

"Sir you've just made my day" turning Sai headed into the kitchen "I hope you like seafood" before he knew it he was handed a ticket and registration form.

"It was so easy it makes me uneasy" Kent gave him a file about the school where promising chefs would be traumatized for life just by spending a few months there "Ten percent… only nine or ten of every hundred" Checking all the trains schedules he got one one that would be closest to Tootsuki and hopped on.

Even if I didn't like it I have to agreed this is pretty sweet. He thought gazing out the window of the starlit city.

* * *

Arriving at the entrance Sai was in a horrible mood "To hell with Jet Lag if it was a dish I would throw the whole thing away including the plate" he muttered since he didn't even get to sleep that whole night.

Hearing the cries and moans of other kids around him he didn't bother to try and translate it when he even saw a man on his knees begging a guy in a suit and glasses "I'm going in the right direction right?" looking at the map he got he was pretty sure he was walking up the correct street and not some road to despair. Even after he confirmed it he couldn't take out the possibility this was a road to despair.

Getting to the impossibly large entrance he was sure he had the wrong address. All sorts of fancy cars with high-bred misters and mistresses were being led around with body guards and butlers not to mention the building itself gave a mansion feeling "I knew Japanese schools were different but this is a bit much" looking around he went up to someone "Um… Hajimemashite Tootsuki?" he pointed at the building using tired Japanese "Yes are you a foreigner?" he asked "Yes so this is it" he said that mostly in English "Thanks" nodding he walked away.

Feeling tired he heard a crash "Don't you dare sit next to me!" turning he saw a blond kid stand from a bench kicking off a Japanese boy of the same age "Listen Carefully! This Academy is no place for a plebeian like you!" stopping Sai was amazed that guys like this actually existed "It's a Holy Garden where only the elites of the food business are allowed to learn."

"Hey did you hear?" "It seems a punk from a cheap restaurant is trying to get admitted" "Ha! That's got to be a joke" "Look there's another one" hearing voices like this all over attention was suddenly drawn to Sai who was only in simple sweats and a black t-shirt with a bag over his shoulders and a waist pouch.

Egoists the number one reason he was against coming "Even though they paid for a plane ticket that was it I still have to go through the same stuff as the other students" he remembered the rule.

"You haven't even eaten at Yukihira even once, Don't go deciding our value like that!" the boy told him stepping away. It seems we're similar Sai decided going up to him.

Raising his hand in a wave movement Sai spoke to him "Hajimemashite Boku Shiokawa Sai" he looked back at him and saw he wasn't the same as the other guy.

"Hi I'm Yukihira Souma I'm guessing you're a foreigner" he said looking around.

"That obvious? Maybe it's because people in America use mostly Spanish or French" he shrugged.

"You're from the states? Cool" they began walking together.

"Your dad forced you into coming too? The world works in weird ways" Sai muttered while Souma just laughed.

"Still coming from the states must have been pretty sweet hey what kind of restaurant do you work at anyway?" he asked.

"A small Asian Cuisine place it has a big name but not much behind it" Sai explained how his sister came up with the name King's Palace.

"Ha, Ha, it must be nice to have siblings" Souma said not having that experience.

"You don't want an older sister they're scary above everything else" Sai sighed when they got to the exam hall.

"What kind of instructor do you think is going to judge us?" Sai asked twiddling his fingers.

"Doesn't matter I'm going to make sure they like me!" With an unknown dedication that Sai saw his eyes were filled with they entered into the wide room.

Cooking utilities all lined up the pair talked for a bit when something brought their attention to the stage "I was entrusted with today's entrance examination" A beautiful girl with radiating golden hair and cute pink eyes that glowed with a domineering aura that flowed all around her "My name is Nakiri Erina"

Swallowing hard Sai couldn't believe someone like this could possibly exist "This aura a real Ojou-sama" doing everything he could to keep his knees from buckling he took a fearful gulp of air "More than that what type of angel of death just descended?" the few survival instincts he had as a chef told him this girl wasn't normal.

"A girl? She's also wearing a uniform… she's a student?" Souma muttered next to him not nearly as affected as he was.

Looking over the group not slowing down even the slightest showed her lack of interest "The notifications for admissions?"

Next to her someone like an assistance lifted a clipboard "I'll read it now" taking a breath she started talking "First is an interview in groups of ten. After that a practical test in three dishes. Survivors-"

She didn't get to finish as Erina spoke up "Worthless let's just do this" clapping her hands she called out "Bring in ingredients and tables" slowly large tables filled with ingredients Sai's never even heard of before started appearing "One dish. Anyone that can satisfy my tongue with a single dish shall be accepted"

Not knowing why but he noticed everybody in the room shack in the same fear he was trying to identify "In additions I'll give you one minute to withdraw from the exam" they ran.

Confused at the sudden action Souma grabbed the same guy he met outside "Hey wait! Why are you running away?" he asked not understanding what was happening but even Sai was taking steps back.

Turning in panic the boy yelled back "You don't know that person?" he shook his head "She earned her pass from the middle school division as the top student! She's a genius that is also the youngest ever to become a member of Tootsuki's top ten!" he yelled not understanding Souma's confused expression "She's the holder of humanities best Palate 'Gods Tongue!"

Top ten? Gods Tongue? There's even something like that? Sai couldn't believe it as an overwhelming emotion shot through his body. But oddly enough he started thinking it wasn't fear.

"As a kid she was asked to taste famous gourmet food the leader's of the cooking world are her clients! Her judgment is the same as a death sentence in the the food industry!" Souma was starting to understand why everyone was scared "That means it would be the end of your life as a chef!" getting Souma off of him he shot out of the building.

"Is this ok?" the assistance asked

"Didn't you see? They were all hopeless garbage it's a waste of time to judge them" turning Erina walked back "Is that the end of the schedule? I want to try making a new dish?" suddenly the assistance went on alert.

A bit of drool came from her mouth and Erina gave a cute giggle "You look like you want something" she teased making her assistance fall into panic.

"Ah! No…"

Walking up to her calm she lifted up her chin like a prince "Do you want to have the right to sample my dish?" she nodded with a low voice "What a greedy girl" Erina spoke softly as well "Before that I have to report to the higher ups that the successful applicant number is zero"

Souma finally interrupted the drama "Can I make whatever I want?" he asked.

With surprise in her eyes she turned not believing someone actually stayed and two of them at that "You can but do you really want to try?" she asked making sure "If not this is your chance" he came up and raised his hand as if to place his hand on her shoulder but Sai grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Dude! Girls like this: you don't get close, you don't touch, and you don't do anything even remotely offensive" Sai gave quick advice after coming to grips with reality.

"You sure know a lot" he told him.

"Not really she give the same feeling my sister has sometimes" feeling a tremendous amount of pressure Sai couldn't understand why his eyes were still steady and he had a small smile.

"Do you two really plan on taking my test?" she asked and Souma nodded.

"I just have to make something you like right?" he asked with a grin "I'll take it of course" she glared at him then turned to Sai.

"And you?" Sai swallowed and took a deep breath.

He finally realized what was different. What others saw as fear in this girl he took it as excitement for some unknown reason he nodded not knowing why he couldn't stop smiling.

Erina glared at them and then looked down at their profiles. A pair of Second rate chefs not only that but one of them is from America of all places. Neither understood their standing compared to her's like a brainless dog that can't understand the value of a gem "If you're willing to say that then I have one more condition" raising her finger they both nodded "The dish you prepare must have a main ingredient which shall be this" going back to a table she lifted up a single egg from the bowl.

Souma instantly felt something change around Sai "Eggs" she said and like a magic spell Sai completely calmed down from his excitement.

Patting Souma's shoulder he apologized "Yukihira-san I'm sorry to make it up to you I'm telling you this now" turning as to the face of an unknown creature Souma took a deep breath "I'm going to take twenty eight minutes and fifty two seconds to make a dish make something before I'm done" walking to the counter Souma also put on a smile.

Taking off the towel around his arm he wrapped it around his head "With pleasure I'm not sure what just happened but I'll make one of our specials" walking up next to Sai he started cooking.


	3. Chapter 2

Seeing an instant change in both of them the moment they started cooking it couldn't help but raise her curiosity. Egg's were a basic ingredient for many genres of cooking what kind of dish shall they prepare for someone who tastes delicacies regularly?

Souma began cooking cutting up vegetables and after starting to bowl some meat in a pot cracked open an egg before scrambling it "Yukihira-Kun, Just what are you making?" Erina being impatient asked.

"You've seeing this much and you don't get it?" he laughed making fun off her already forgetting Sai's warning.

"I'll fail you right now!" she screamed a bit red "Listen! I don't have time to taste a failure!" calming down a bit she got serious again "I'm asking you if you're even trying to make a dish that corresponds to my tongue!"

Grinning Souma looked at her "Ok I'll tell you, The dish I'm cooking is… Secret Menu #8!" he raised up his chopsticks. Secret menu? What kind of dish is it? Erina thought "Furikake Gohan!" with a dramatic rise it all fell apart as silence was left

"Don't screw with me! You're really a second rate chef!" turning she knew it was a waste of time to stay.

"Wait I'm not making a normal Furikake" Souma with an expression of confidence stated "I'm making a transforming Furikake Gohan!" with a grin he said that catching her attention.

"Not to mention you're forgetting there are two of us" Sai mentioned in the back holding a bowl of thin cuts of pork.

"Shiokawa-kun I forgot you were there!" nodding Sai understood since it was a fairly normal occurrence for him but Erina just gave a deeper sigh.

Walking over she saw batter and cut potatoes being fried "And what are you making?" after Souma she didn't want to know the answer.

Putting the bowl down he scrambled an egg "On cooking shows the chef always explains a dish after it's given to a judge" he responds and looked up at her "But Nakiri-ojousama if wanted the accepted applicants to be zero you made a huge mistake just now" he told her his eyes glowing with energy.

Feeling it wasn't bluff she wouldn't back off "And what would that be?" her goal wasn't to make the successes zero she just didn't want to waste time but in a way it was the same thing.

Lifting up the white object Sai gave a small smile "Making the main ingredient eggs" pouring the egg mix into the pan he gave her a delicate explanation.

Taking a step away from him she saw Souma lay out his dish "It's done" he told her presenting his transforming Furikake Gohan. A bowl of fresh rice next to a container of what looked like scramble eggs and meat "This isn't even worth considering if the other one's dish is within the same realm as your's the exam will just end here" Turning she didn't even bother tasting it.

I have a palate that's been named 'Gods Tongue' since I was a child I've only eaten from first-class chefs. I've had tasting appointments regularly and had a shop with a three star specialty in Paris. On my table lined up only high-class dishes that concentrated on extravagance and innovation. A heaven of gourmet food! To serve me who lived there a questionable dish like Furikake "It's the work of a second-rate chef I don't crave it at all" she didn't hesitate to say those words are place any emotion into them.

Yukihara seemed a bit ticked and in a deep voice called out "Even though this dish's true form is about to show"

Turning not knowing why she gave anymore attention she asked "What do you mean with that?" with a grinned he lifted up his the dish and she saw it something was in the eggs in a darker color.

"Well take a look" flipping it he poured the contents onto the rice "It's done" after all a Furikake's value can only be shown over rice.

The gel like cubes dropped onto the rice and began to slowly melt from the rice's heat and merge with the egg's and rice. Slowly rising from the steam came the impressive scent of carefully boiled chicken "This is the Transforming Gohan!" placing it down Erina stared at it trying to know just what it was.

"I'll give it one bite" she muttered "If you want it to be judged hand over that bowl now!" trying to keep up her superiority she placed her hand on her hip and Sai noticed Souma's creepy smile.

"It's done" handing it to her she carefully took up her utensils.

Taking a bit of gel covered rice she placed into her mouth and stood there for a moment and widened her eyes in shock then had some kind of internal conflict before taking another one "You're taking another one didn-" Sai stopped him from talking.

"Seriously did you even listen to my advise? She's probably being considerate or something" Sai was still a bit different and Souma noticed a plate on the table behind them "Continue please"

Erina almost reluctantly took another bite and after a bit of thought came with her decision "Jellied meat Broth correct?" Souma nodded with a smile

Correct those square things are chicken wing jellied meat broth" he said "I boiled the chicken wings with Bonito stock, sake and light soy sauce, then extract the chicken wings gelatinous parts and good taste" he gave his explanation "Let the broth cool and when it hardens cut it delicately" looking at the pot on he was using Erina knew what he had done "Sprinkling it over hot rice with make the molted chicken wing broth jiggly twine around the minced eggs"

Nodding Erina accepted that if were to describe the broth is a concentrated soup where the chicken's deliciousness blends, the thick broths body and saltines brings out the soft mince eggs sweetness, with every bite the softness and syrupiness rub inside my mouth, the molten jellied meat brother springs up the eggs tastiness exceptionally! This isn't anything like the other dishes I've ever tasted a world of tastes not even I knew.

Feeling that he had an edge Souma leaned down "How is it! Aren't you glad you didn't leave before eating it?" he asked with a smug expression.

Panicking she yelled out "Silence I'm still judging!" she tried to calm back down.

"Even this commonplace menu transforms into a gem with creative originality!" picking up a small bit he gave a confident smile "This is Yukihira's cooking!" with pride in his words she took another bite.

In her vision she stood in the heaven's as she was being served by angels caring to her every need but in an instant the sky gave a glow of power as her heaven was invaded by an unknown enemy to her ideals "No stay away!" she screamed to the new angels as they wished to care for her.

Dropping to her knees Souma nodded "It's true that ours is a small special of the day shop and yours probably really are part of the highest grade however if you just recline on the seat of honor there are probably things you can't make!" he declared and turned "Now how was it?" he was asking for her judgement "Yukihira style's Furikake Gohan, was it good, was it bad" Seeing her glare at him "Tell me" he demanded.

Stepping between them finally getting tired of the show Sai emptied a cup of ice water onto Souma's head "You're being rude at this point" he sighed "Showing her that she was wrong is one thing smacking it in her face five times is another" wiping off the water Souma stared up at Sai

"You can't seriously not be the least bit annoyed"

"I can't say I'm mad honestly I don't really care" he knew he shouldn't say it out loud to people like them but to him Cooking was just a simple hobby to help out his brother but raising the lid over his plate he placed it down before Erina "Please judge"

Staring at his plate she saw from his eyes he couldn't be underestimated either knowing that she first analyzed the plate.

It was an incredibly simple breakfast dish. Two pancakes with a small reddish lump of meat between "What is this?" even Souma was confused.

"A breakfast burger" he announced making Erina feel even more depressed that she was actually still interested "What? I'm from America the homeland of Burgers, chemically enhanced food, and preservatives" Sai shrugged "In my country as much as people deny it speed comes first and food that can be eaten while traveling is also top-rated"

Gulping Erina took out utensils and was about to eat when Sai stopped her "It's a burger it might be easier to just" he motioned eating a burger made of air.

"You can't possibly expect me to do something so vulgar" she responded before noticing Arato's strange expression "What is it?"

Coming up to her she leaned down carefully whispering in her ear "I timed how long it took him to complete his dish" showing her a small watch Erina's eyes widened "Precisely twenty-eight minutes and fifty-two seconds" remembering his file he only worked at a simple afternoon restaurant that doesn't even serve breakfast.

Impossible. In that moment he created a dish in his mind just by seeing the main ingredient? Remembering his words that it was a mistake to make the main ingredient eggs she understood "So you're choice of specialties are eggs" she concluded.

Nodding Sai smiled "It's a funny story of how that came to be but yeah if asked about what my specialty is it would undoubtedly be eggs" seeing his smile she decided to try the dish.

Taking the burger up to her mouth she took a bite. Slow at first the softness entered squeezing out a beat of juices her mind was engulfed in a steady symphonic rhythm before she began to chew down on small soft textures of meat and mushrooms each highlighting themselves while keeping the harmony together with the egg. Increasing it's own pace little by little the tempo took a sudden change as it reached its climax. The beautifully crafted solo of a soft and creamy yolk.

Imagining the sun rise up in the sky Erina unconsciously stretched her arms "Erina-sama?" turning to her assistant she almost wondered why she was in her room when she remembered where she was and stood up quickly throwing back the chair she was on.

"Whoa!" jumping back the two boys wondered what she was doing.

Feeling refreshed she felt as though she had just woken up from an extremely pleasant dream Erina scanned the table for the burger she must have dropped but found no trace of it "You" staring at Sai who was now feeling more afraid now she asked him "Who do you normally make this for?" as good as the dish was there was a special part of it that was an extremely rare component in cooking.

Wondering what she meant he gave a simple answer "My brother" her stare told him to give more "My brother goes to a different school district so he had to leave early all the time so I made him a quick to eat mobile breakfast" nodding she smiled.

You must really care for your brother. She didn't say it out loud but she knew the time and effort he used to formulate this dish wasn't something that would be used to serve to customers or simple friends but only loved ones he cared deeply about. Using her vague memory to analyse the dish "The pancakes were a simple home-baked recipe with the use of fruit juice that didn't hinder the baking" she started and Sai nodded.

"Mainly Lemons and Oranges but also a bit of vanilla with the use of brown sugar" a small bit of fruit was the only special part about the pancakes which offered extra sensation to the meat "And for the part between its egg whites, minced mushrooms tops, strips of pork, and potato. I got the idea from a breakfast place I liked that served pancakes with eggs, harsh brown, and bacon but having them separate made it hard for travel this makes it so it can be eaten with a single hand"

Nodding she understood he also placed the egg yolk as a single creamy entity than at last he wrapped it all around in an extremely thin crispy layer of bacon meat. The most outstanding part was how the ingredients were so accurately arranged that gave the impression of a fresh start in the morning.

Souma was impressed that he made something like that but more than that his skills were outstanding to make her give such a reaction "So what's my score?" Sai asked taking a breath.


	4. Chapter 3

Gathering for the entrance ceremony Sai was busy adjusting his clothing "Why aren't you wearing a uniform?" he asked the Japanese boy next to him.

"This is the uniform isn't it?" Souma replied looking at his clothing that was much different than Sai's jacket and tie.

"Still I can't believe I got accepted that was close" Sai sighed since she said she needed time to think it over.

"Yeah still though how can you not read that?" Sai hunted Souma down to translate it for him when he got the letter at the small motel room he was renting.

"Well sorry I only had time to learn simple characters of Kanji and a bit of Hiragana" Sai returned since Japanese was really different from English.

Listening to the voices through a curtain Souma heard the speech begin by introducing Erina "The top middle school student… I wonder if this place also has an elementary school" Souma stared at Sai who just spoke in English "Sorry I was wondering if this place has something like primary school" shrugging they both felt a sudden tension.

Staring out to the stage they saw an elderly man with a long spiky beard with a solid stare that stretched out into the crowd "Yakuza?" Sai instantly made a connection.

"Now a word from Tootsuki's principle Nakiri Senzaemon" someone announced.

"Nakiri?" this guy was a relative of Erina but he had to be Yakuza.

"Ladies and Gentlemen congratulations on entering the high school section!" he began with a surprisingly nice voice "During your three years in the middle school section you've been taught the basics of food preparation and ingredients" he began "Having classes with cooking drills and had lectures over cooking theory and nutrition along with sanitation, agriculture, management, and now you're standing at the entrance to the high school section, But what will be tested now isn't your technique or knowledge" a deep feeling of tension dropped into the air "It's if you have the guts to live as a chef!"

Sai started shaking when he pointed into the crowd "99% of you are sacrificial stones in order to polish the remaining 1% gems" continue his speech the air thickened to fast "Out of the eight hundred and twelve new first years from last year the number of students that advanced to the second year is seventy-six" simple math showed that in just a year more than ninety percent of the students left "We'll mercilessly cast away the incompetent and ordinary people, and the graduates will be able to be counted on a single hand. You, you will become one of those handful of chefs!" declaring this he gave a single last piece of advice "Devote to your studies"

Different from Erina Sai could only feel fear and guilt in his heart. Cooking's just a hobby. What he was saying was that people without any conviction or talent should leave immediately. He passed the test out of luck that the ingredient was egg but that was it and now he didn't seem to belong here.

"And now we'll introduce the students who was admitted to the high school section" Souma walked out not knowing what was going through Sai's head.

"Well… like, I'm sorry for being in this high place, hehe" scratching his head he looked back to see Sai carefully walk out after him "I have to express my intentions, right? I'm beaten, Do I have to do this?" getting angry shouts he nodded "Then I'll keep it short" with a confident grin Souma glared out into the crowd "I'm Yukihira Souma, Truth be told I didn't expect I'll use all of you as stepping-stones" Sai wanted to jump out and grab him but couldn't "Now that I'm here I'll take the top" with conviction he stated his intentions "Best of regards for the next three years" saying that he left.

Getting angry shouts from the group Sai felt killing intent and hid behind something as it rained down items off all sorts "I'll kill you rookies!" They put me as with him Sai cried chasing after Souma to keep his life intact.

Stepping off Souma exhaled "I said it without biting my tongue" Sai didn't have the energy to attack and instead gave a small threat.

"If they end up killing me I'm haunting you for the rest of your life"

Laughing thinking it was a joke Souma noticed their examiner "Oh, you're from the exam! You were Nakiri… Right?" looking at him with cold eyes he didn't notice "I was really nervous, ever since I was a kid, things like my testimonial weren't important. How was I? Anything weird?"

Clenching her fist she yelled out "Everything about that was weird!" she couldn't believe she had actually admitted this student.

No matter how much she hated Souma and his cooking she couldn't let out that it was at another level. Shifting her gaze over to Sai who was still taking nervous glances to the crowd outside she remembered his dish. Not only was it well-practiced it was crafted to served two purposes, One: Awaken the consumer giving the feeling of a fresh start and Two: Calm's their spirit into being able to make rational decisions without emotional influence. I make this for my brother. It must be nice to have siblings she thought.

But even so "Let me tell you, I haven't accepted it" glaring at Souma no matter what his skills are "Not you nor your cooking!" giving out this statement "You say you'll take the top? Don't make me laugh" never as long as she was there and even if she wasn't "All the students that passed the internal entrance exam for the middle school have received gifted education in ultra-fine gastronomy!" explaining the difference in their standing she glared at him "You may have talent but some rookies from the outside doesn't even have to look at the top, You won't be able to beat them"

As she was walking away after she finished Sai dropped his head seeing that he was being paired with Souma again.

"Three years in the middle school section" Souma muttered making her turn to him once more "The first time I held a knife was when I was three" Both Sai and Erina gave him a surprised look "Twelve years. That's the time I've been living in the kitchen you know?"

Widening their eyes he pointed at Erina "I can't get my shops name dirty by having you say you can't accept it" creating an oath in his heart he declare "Wait for it. I'll make you clearly say "It's good" with that mouth of yours!" adjusting the towel on his arm "Even if I have to exhaust my cooking to its limits!"

Seeing the motivation and pure willpower in his eyes and hearing it in his voice Sai stared off again. I'm really not going to make it. Deciding that was his fate Souma pointed at him "I'm pretty sure he feels the same way" having the attention being directed at him Sai thought carefully.

"Sorry Yukihira-san I can't say I do I've only been cooking for maybe nine or ten years so I don't have as much pride as you do" knowing that he thought back to his siblings back home then to the words of the heamaster "But it doesn't seem like I can give up just yet I'm pretty sure I won't make it too the top but I'm willing to see how far I'll go" with a grin Souma nodded.

Also accepting his statement Erina walked off "Erina-Sama" running up behind her came the assistant "The nerve of those Rookies to not even consider how grateful they should be to you" she pouted not liking them.

Somewhere else where Souma looked back "Are you okay?" Sai stopped and rubbed his head.

"I'm not sure maybe it's the jet lag" holding his arms together.

"But it sure is amazing to make something like that in only nine years" Souma complimented.

"It's nothing what's surprising is how long you've been cooking I only got to start using knives eight years ago and stopped in the first month since I almost cut off my finger" remembering the panic his parents forbid him from using knives until it got older "That's why my specialty is egg since it's simple and easy to make" The first thing he ever remembered tasting was eggs and he was sure it was going to be his last.

Nodding Souma looked at the schedule "Anyway it seems like we're going to different classes today" he said.

Sai couldn't tell but was using a translation dictionary which he wasn't sure was helping "Alright see you later" waving off to Souma, Sai headed down a different path from him.

Walking into Class he was given a lottery number for who he was going to be paired up with and went to the designated table with icy cold glares sharper than any of his knives being thrown at him "I'm so haunting that guy he better show up for my funeral" Sai was sure this was a serious statement.

* * *

Staring at the file with eyes of cold hate a girl with short pink hair crumpled the sheet "I cannot forgive either of those rookies" she declared. They are enemies of Erina-sama the next time we meet I'll make them pay! Turning her attention to the class her partner he placed his things on the table

"Um… hajimemashite boku Shiokawa Sai?"

Staring at the blacked haired Asian she couldn't believe her eyes "Why are you here!" she demanded.

"Sorry! Sorry! I took this and was told to come to this table" he showed her the slip.

"No way" dropping she glared at Sai "Don't you dare act even remotely friendly with my Shiokawa-san you're an enemy of Erina-sama thus an enemy of mine!"

"It's that Rookie" "Good thing he was paired with Arato-chan that'll put him in his place" "The assistant of the holder of 'Gods Tongue' what horrible luck" "For her mainly to be dragged down from some outsider" hearing these Sai sighed.

"You know I'm not really with Yukihira-san…" Sai gave up "So Arato-san can I ask why you don't like me?" just from her words Sai didn't understand. He was okay with people laughing at him or hating him he just wanted to know the reasons for it.

"You couldn't possibly begin to understand how much I despise you from now on you are to address me with sama don't go using such a familiar way of talking" turning she stared at him. The expression Erina-sama had when she had eaten his dish. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before a pure feeling of re-freshness so much different from her usual grand appearance. Even more than that after the entrance ceremony the words Erina-sama herself spoke made her hate him more the Souma.

"I want you to investigate who Shiokawa Sai is" she ordered freezing her heart "I want to know more about his little brother" at this point though Hisako's ear's went mute.

I will protect Erina-sama! Declaring this in her heart she gave Sai another sharp glare.

Kent did say I have an unusual talent for getting on peoples bad side but what the heck did I do for this? Sai turned from her wanting to run.

Walking in a German woman with long black hair placed down her clipboard "Attention" she began "Good morning and congratulations for entering the high school division" clapping her hands she gave a warm smile "First let us begin attendance then I shall explain today's assignment"

She looked nice enough but Sai felt uncomfortable since everyone was glaring at him.

Finishing she wrote up a recipe on the board "Today's menu is a simple three dish set of Bread, Soup, and Sausages" she laid out the instructions on the board "I'll use simple dishes just to make sure each dish will be graded individually and as a whole, you may begin"

The other students instantly started grabbing the necessary ingredients and as Sai was about to go Hisako told him his place "Listen I am the chef because there are no other options you may be my sou-chef don't get any funny idea's and stay out of my way"

Nodding she saw Sai's eyes change "As you wish Arato-sama it'll be an honor" with that he went and grabbed ingredients.

Seeing him begin she also began by preparing the bread first. Pouring water into a bowl she added dry yeast and sugar she turned and saw the molasses, honey, salt, and even completely grounded caraway seeds each perfectly measured and next to her she tried to remember when she prepared those ingredients when a small cup of orange skins was slid next to them.

Turning in shock she saw Sai measuring a few cups of flour and saw her stare "Is there something wrong?" he asked with a calm expression.

"No nothing" adding the ingredients into the mix she was right about to finish when Sai placed the flour before her. Adding the flour she began to knead and looked back to see what Sai was doing.

Standing next to a skillet he already finished draining the fat out of the bacon and cut it up. Cutting the onions and garlic he added them into the bacon fat to let it heat. Letting it sit he removed unneeded beans from a bowl then filled the container with water. Focused on Sai for too long she noticed she was finished kneading and cleaned out the mixing bowl onto a sheet with non-stick liquid already spread out on which she didn't remember grabbing.

Buttering the dish she took the mixture and placed it back into the bowl and took a plastic wrap from a hand to cover the bowl. Using this time for the dough to rise she checked the Skillet and found the onions and garlic just tender enough and added the rest of the ingredients that laid next to the skillet and checked on the soup beans as someone added the extra water to the skillet.

Finding a pot of water over a low flame Hisako checked to find the water at a boiling temperature that was just recently over a high flame and filtered out the beans adding them in. Turning to the Skillet she saw that she must've added the bratwurst and focused back on the bread and placed back on a floured cutting board and began to shape the dough. When she finished Hisako place it onto a greased cookie sheet and reached out for the plastic wrap which came to her at the same moment.

Going back to the Skillet she checked the mix and saw it was near perfection and gave it a small stir before adding in the apple slices. Checking the soup she cut up the celery then added it along with onions, garlic and salt before leaving and allowed it to stir. Checking the oven heat she felt it was already on and was just arriving at a hundred and ninety degrees Celsius and took the bread and placed it inside.

Doing the finishing touches on the sausages Hisako went over to the soup and added precise chops of ham and began to stir then when it was finished she pouring it out into a bowl and laid it next to other dish when the bread finished backing "And that finishes it" doing her own finishing touches on the presentation she took the plates and brought it to the instructor

Doing a few small test she smiled "Quite remarkable everything looks perfectly done and still you're by far the fastest one to finish" turning she saw all over students scrambling to finish their dishes. Tasting the dishes she nodded in approval "All A's it was truly a delicately made dish each ingredient was carefully cut in accordance and the method of time was without a doubt flawless it's unfortunate I can't give you anything higher then an A"

This is a dish that was created to show my resolve to Erina-sama. Hisako smiled and thought just when was she able to move that fast? Is it thanks to the hatred to her enemies? Widening her eyes to an impossible reality she instantly turned.

A simple black haired boy was beginning clean up procedures "She's already done!" "And she got an A" "As expected of Erina-sama's assistance" "Amazing" not a single insult or even a reference to the boy could of been heard.

Walking back to to the humming boy she slammed her hand on the table "What did you just do?" she asked him.

"What are you talking about?" Sai asked placing down clean Skillet.

"You know what I was talking about while I was cooking just now what in the world did you just do?" remembering it she felt like she was the only person in the kitchen yet after careful examination that wasn't true. Feeling like all his movements were created just to support her cooking she even forgot he was there after a while.

"What do you mean? I cut the ingredients and prepared the utilities for when you had the time to use them" he responded taking up another plate.

He timed his movements to match accordingly with hers although she did all the cooking in the spotlight it didn't change the fact that in the shadows Sai did just as much as she did while at the same time becoming an invisible assistant.

As an assistant-chef his ability is extraordinary. They weren't even closely acquainted yet he predicted her every movement and planned out when to hand her ingredients and prepare utilities that matched her timing just by watching her cook. This was her conclusion and without saying anything else they got through the school day.


	5. Chapter 4

After school Sai went to an information building and saw Souma coming out "Hey are you signing up for the dorm too?" he asked.

"Yeah none of the guys in there even heard of it though" Souma was a bit confused "Wait don't you have an apartment close by that's what the guys in there said studet's normally have" he remembered Sai mentioning it before.

"To expensive my parents are letting me use the twenty percent of my earnings that I'm normally not allowed to use but it's not going to last forever" he shrugged. Twenty percent of his work goes into a small account somewhere, ten percent he takes as regular spending cash, and the last seventy percent goes to his brother's savings.

"So how'd class go?" Souma asked as they began to walk up the street.

"I got paired with Hisako Arato" he replied with a defeated expression.

"Who?" completely oblivious Souma asked

"Nakiri-ojousama's assistant you know the one with pink hair" Sai remembered he question at the end of the class. He played dumb but he was mostly aware of what he did. Its been a while since I flipped that switch. He thought remembering when he first started cooking he began mostly an assistant type chef and learned to stay there until suddenly his skills as a sole-chef were discovered.

"Oh her that must've been fun I got paired with a girl named Tadokoro Megumi" Souma laughed not knowing how much pain he caused Sai during class "I thought this was some super elite school but there are people like her here too" People like her? Sai wanted to asked but had a feeling that was a bad idea.

Walking for a while Sai was amazed at all the different buildings "This Academy is way too huge!" Souma declared panting "I'm hungry, tired and above everything else it's freezing! We're going to die out here!"

Sai was walking pretty casually unlike Souma's who had a surprising lack of stamina "This is nothing compared to tryouts back home and it's not really at a killing temperature if you ever find yourself locked in a meat freezer you tend to find everywhere else hot" he pointed out getting an amazed stare from Souma.

"Even so this academy has a lot of really bizarre buildings" they passed a European mansion and a Japanese one along with a small city like place.

"I saw a windmill a little while ago it'll be cool if this place even grows it's own food" Sai who grew up in Miami liked the scenery and even saw a large dome building.

"As expected from a rich academy all the facilities must be amazing"

"With that thinking it makes sense that the dorm would be amazing too right?" Sai replied looking at the map "It should be right here" stopping at a huge western-style house they both stared.

It looked like an old abandoned building with vines growing in every which direction and even had crows flying around "This is the wrong place it has to be the wrong place" Sai looked back at the map.

Souma walked up to the pillar next to the gate and moved some vines "Nope" showing him the sign he translated for him "Polar Star Dormitory"

Staring up at the building Sai could only say one thing "Yukihira-san you are now officially an omen to misfortune" coming to this conclusion they walked inside.

"Hello!" Souma called opening the door when Sai pointed at smoke that was coming out of the next room startling them.

Smoke? A fire? "Hey! Room 208! You went and modified the lounge into a smoking room again!" an older female voice shot out of a speaker "Shall I make you into smoked ships!"

Running down from another hallway a group of animals ran passed them "Usako, Kamosuke, Shikanoshin! Don't leave your cages!" another girl with bright blood hair called out chasing after them.

"Don't keep the Gibier in your room 116!" the voice came out again "If you do it again, I'll skin your body" this woman is serious Sai instantly felt "I'm this place's dorm mother" walking down the stairs was an older woman with light hair appeared "Call me 'Polar star's Maria', Fumio-san"

Sai jumped back "Another Yakuza! Let's get out of here!" what is wrong with this school! A Mafia Don for a principal and this woman for a dorm mother.

"Who are you calling Yakuza!" with a stern glare she continued "I'm sure you've prepared your ingredients!" she said.

"Ingredients for what?" Souma asked holding onto Sai so he couldn't leave.

"That's obvious! For the polar star's specialty the skill test!" she declared showing them the entrance test sheet.

"We didn't hear about this!" Souma complained.

"Then you lose by default! You can't enter polar star without having your skills checked"

"Which means tonight we'll…" Souma didn't want to think about it "Don't screw with me! Don't underestimate how cold an April night can be!" I'm going to die of exhaustion and hunger at this rate. He thought then was given a shining ray of hope.

"Give up! There's only leftover ingredients in the kitchen" widening his eyes he got up "You had bad luck today-"

That was an understatement but it didn't change the situation "So can I use those leftovers?" Souma asked "I'll take the skill test! Where's the kitchen?"

Carefully looking him over she brought him back to the kitchen which was in an amazing condition "What a nice kitchen! It's totally different from the exterior!" Souma grinned looking around.

"Listen, I hate kids that bluff the most!" she stared at him "How many students dishes do you think I've tasted! Do you think I'll give an improvised dish a passing mark?" she asked with certainty. While Souma walked around checking what was left.

"Yeah this much should be enough" he grinned catching her attention "Polar star dormitory mother Daimidou Fumio-dono" taking the towel he wrapped it around his head "Please wait a minute!"

Beginning to cook it didn't take to long to place a plate before her "There should've been less than a gram of beef and pork minced meat" staring at the plate she exclaimed "What kind of magic did you use to make this fleshy hamburger?" staring at the rich, juicy, lump of flesh she couldn't understand where it came from.

"I used canned mackerel to make this! A Mackerel Burger!" he explained "I broke onions, egg, and breadcrumbs into slightly drained mackerel and mixed them together with salt and pepper then fried it. With that, you can make a fluffy mackerel burger! In addition I added ponzu to the Mackerel juices then increased it's viscosity with potato starch diluted with water to create a flavorful sauce!"

Taking a piece she didn't know what to make of it "No way! A hamburger made with canned Mackerel would have a raw smell so strong that you wouldn't be able to eat it!" taking a bit her expression softened "Then what about this egg soup?" taking it she drank some "What is this? The flavor's depend on the quality of the dashi" using careful memory she turned "Just how did you do this? There was no kelp, or anything else you could make dashi from!" she knew this for a fact.

Grinning Souma placed it into his mouth "About that I had some with me" taking a bite of the dried squid her eyes widened.

"You're saying that you made dashi out of dried squid?" Since the squid is dried it's a mass of delicious components. If you dip it in boiling water for a while and adjust the flavor with salt you can complete a soup with a deep flavor and effective dashi! Seeing how everything would work out Souma grinned.

"I call this the Yukihira style Improvised Mackerel burger meal!" he proudly declared.

Drinking it she reminisced slowly to herself while muttering then suddenly grabbed Souma "Please…" she muttered "Embrace me!" pursing her lips for a kiss.

Screaming Souma went into a massive panic attack "Let me go, old hag!" wishing he took Sai's advise to run he started feeling like he was forgetting something.

Coming back to reality she took out a key "Alright your room is room 303!" she announced handing him a key "I'll accept your admission into the dorm!" smiling Souma took off the towel around his head.

"It wasn't much" he said "Alright a bath! A bath is definitely first! Let's go Shiokawa!" Both Souma and the dorm mother stopped "Right…" he remembered he came here with a friend.

Widening her eyes Fumio turned and saw the other boy place a plate on the table "I have to be tested first remember" he mentioned as they both blinked a few times as he introduced himself "Hajimemashite boku Shiokawa Sai"

When in the world did he even enter the kitchen? The dorm mother thought as he arranged the plate and took off the lid "More than that when did you start cooking!" getting up she stared at the golden pillow on the plate.

Confused Sai wasn't entirely sure what she was talking "Sorry I didn't leave you with many ingredients!" Souma apologised also having the same thoughts as the dorm mother.

With a shrug he actually gave a small laugh "Yeah you left me with only two egg's, three green onions, and a bunch of seasonings" he sighed not sure it'll work but introduced his food "Using light soy sauce, white vinegar, a mix of seasonings, and thick cream, I fried together chopped onions with eggs to create an insanely improvised fluffy omelette"

Staring down at the golden oval she placed her chopsticks through it and took off a piece "Tender for fluffy omelets" she commented placing it into her mouth. Going into a daze she felt as if all the worries and fatigue of life were slowly being drained away in a small and simple yet attractive lullaby letting her release herself from all her restrictions and enter a state of rest where no harm can continue to befall her.

Coming back she slammed her hand onto the table "Are you asking me to enter eternal slumber boy!" jumping back in fear Sai didn't know what to make of this reaction "Let me tell you this I'm not even that old yet! I shall not lose to-" putting another piece in her mouth the dorm mother fell of the chair.

"Did you poison that?" Souma asked with a blank expression.

"Course not!" Sai was on the floor naming his regrets.

A while later she came back to her senses and gave Sai a key "Your room is 407" she said handing him a metal key.

"Sorry about that maybe I used too much seasoning" taking the key he slid it into his pocket.

Nodding she wondered just what he did to that dish to give it such an extraordinarily deep flavor that would make one feel so tired. Walking away from them she yawned "Maybe I should get some sleep early this time round" already knowing that wasn't an option "Wait didn't that kid say something about taking a bath? A well let him figure it out" waving her hand she entered into her own room.

Waving off to Souma and walking down the hall he checked his emails on his phone "Restaurant's still doing well, Kent's got a job coming up, Zack's… well that was completely expected" thinking he was going to need to get a new phone that worked in this country Sai entered the room did the math of his leftover expenses.

Setting down his things he fell onto the bed and heard a scream "I don't even want to know" covering his eyes he laid there.

They're both doing fine actually better than fine. Sai couldn't help but feel a bit jealous "Seriously dad don't try and compare me to those two" he remembered their parting moment.

* * *

Arriving at the airport Sai stepped out of the car "Is that really all you're taking?" Kent asked seeing him only have two easy to carry bag's and a pouch around his waist.

"A few extra cloths, money, my laptop, my forgery kit, and a lock pick yeah I'm good" he listed and she sighed.

"You can have the lock pick but the forgery kit is mine"

"But come on!" Sai complained but gave it to her.

"Come on Sai!" he father called and they went up to them "Did you already tell Zack?" he asked.

Sai nodded "This morning at breakfast" he told him how it will probably take him a few weeks to drop out anyway and asked him to wait.

"Kent we'll be fine on our own stay with the car" nodding Sai waved.

"See you later sis" giving a thumbs up she smiled.

"Treat me to something when you get back"

Before getting in the line for the plane Sai waved "Peace dad" he was about to walk towards it but his dad stopped him.

"You're planning on dropping out quickly aren't you?" he asked seeing the look in Sai's eyes.

"What gave it away?" even if he was stuck in japan for a while he could be imported in the worst case scenario if he didn't make it in.

"I'll asked you again Sai what do you want to do with your life?" he asked "You're brother's already chosen his path and your sister has already discovered a professional career Sai you're the only one left"

Narrowing his eyes he shrugged "What you can't stand that you have a useless child?" he asked remembering all the times he was compared to his siblings.

"Trying to turn me into a cook just to show off your kids" Sai sighed staring at him "I'll see what I can do but expect me back home in close to a month" waving Sai went down into the plane.

* * *

Uncovering his eyes he guessed he was being a bit unfair. It wasn't that he was mad at his dad because he figured he was the only one thinking that "I said I'll be home in a few weeks but this place is a lot of fun" he grinned remembering the last few days. I haven't put that much effort into cooking for years. The entrance dish was just the start after meeting Erina who made a block for him to want to get passed, being re-shown his values by the headmaster, Working with Hisako as an assistant which was incredibly fun and entertaining, and now by creating a simple dish while those two were talking. The present and the future. Sai always valued the present over the future and that was why he didn't want to come here but right now this was his present.

"Not bad I guess" he muttered smile "The longer I stay here the less I want to drop out" admitting this he noticed something and reached for his things.

"Hey tranf-" a young boy with hazel colored hair spoke moving a ceiling piece when a blade cut off the tips of his hair. Shaking with gray eyes that have just seen his life flash before his eyes he dropped down.

"So this school even has burglars" Sai muttered holding a kitchen knife in his hands while wondering how he should prepare his new ingredient.


	6. Chapter 5

Apologizing Sai walked down with his senpai "Sorry for that it was a reflex from living in the land of Crime lords, Terrorist, and Government Assassins"

With an almost fearful grin he shook his head "No worries reflexes are good!" giving a thumbs up Sai noticed his legs shaking as they entered his room.

Or at least he thought it was the senpai's room "I told you!" a shorter boy with smooth black hair and round glasses yelled out "I'm busy studying for the written exams! If you're having a party feel free to do it in another room!" looking around Sai saw Souma sitting next to a depressed girl with black hair wrapped in braids "Why do you always do it in my room!"

"It can't be helped~ Marui's room is the biggest of all" the animal girl he saw earlier that day was checking her nails "And it's always clean when we come~"

Pointing at her in a slightly angry way he yelled "Don't just go and sit on my bed!"

Sai turned left and right. It was a big room filled with lots of books across from the animal girl was another boy with large bangs covering his eyes and at the window were two older boys who were talking and finally "Yamato Nadeshiko!" They actually exist! Sai was blessed happy he came to this school now.

Hearing him Souma turned "Oh hey Sai!" he said then turned the girl next to him around "This is the girl I was telling about! Tadokoro Megumi meet Shiokawa Sai" he said.

Bowing Sai saw it looked like shes been crying heavily on the inside "Still I never thought we would be going to the same dorm" she nodded then her eyes widened.

"Wait does that mean Souma-kun and Shiokawa-san passed the dorm entrance skill test at your first try?" she exclaimed.

"Well yeah I'm glad I somehow managed" Sai nodded in agreement sitting down.

"Especially after you took all the ingredients" laughing lightly Souma didn't respond.

"That's amazing… I don't think there are many people that pass on the first try" looking between them she then turned her gaze away. I can't tell him it took me three months!

Coming in the hazel haired senpai looked around "Hey, Hey! I called out for everyone in the dorm, you know" he counted the number in the room "But there's not even half of them here"

"Well it can't be helped right?" one of the boys in the back mentioned "Isshiki-senpai tells us to gather almost everyday so everyone's got tired of it"

"They got tired, that can't be, right?" he asked them "I mean Tadokoro-chan always participates"

"But if I don't participate he'll come to wake me up a few minutes later" she sighed depressingly.

"He'd eventually give up if you ignore him… Megumi you sure are conscientious" the Yamato Nadeshiko spoke.

With unrelenting will Satoshi stared out into the golden rays of the future "Listen everyone! Youngsters living under the same roof and eating food from the same stove. This is youth! This is being a student!" Continuing a grand speech he began to glow and sparkle "I yearned for that so I came to this dorm… Now let's enjoy a bright dorm life!"

"That's fine and all but just stop coming to call us using the loft"

Sighing he went up to Souma and Sai "So I'm second year Isshiki call me "Isshiki-senpai" everyone else are first years like you" shaking their hands he gave a warm smile "Welcome to the polar star dorm"

Souma nodded "It's a pleasure to be here I'm Yukihira Souma"

Next to him Sai also shook his hand "Hajimemashite boku Shiokawa Sai"

"Now let's have a toast! All of you grab a drink!" he announced.

"Here you two" pouring cups for both of them from a large glass bottle the Yamato Nadeshiko handed them both cups.

Watching the party for a bit Souma spoke up "Is it okay to make this much noise so late?" he asked.

"It's okay I mean this place is surrounded by a forest" she reminded him.

"But well, there's the dorm mother…" as Souma spoke the voice came from the speaker.

"Hey You people!" jumping back Sai got to the side farthest from it.

"The Yakuza mom is pissed!" he yelled in English.

"I have Daikon broiled in soy sauce, Have someone come for it!" both of them gave a blank expression as Isshiki-senpai was expressing his love. Guess not Sai muttered in his heart.

"I guess it's okay then" Souma muttered

"Come back before Fumio-san starts bragging about the Elite Ten!" someone called out.

"Right what is the elite ten anyway?" Sai remembered Erina being part of some council called the 'Elite Ten'.

"You're seriously asking?" Ryoko (Yamato Nadeshiko) asked

"You really entered Tootsuki without knowing anything huh" Yuki took a drink while still sitting on the bed.

"Tootsuki elite ten council. A committee formed by the best ten students in the internal evaluations. In Tootsuki, many affairs are left for the students to decide. What to do in these affairs is decided by the members of the elite ten in their conferences. They're directly below the director in the organizational charts, even the lecturers must obey the elite ten. It's truly the highest decision-making group in the academy"

So like a student council Sai summarized "Decades ago, when the dorm's rooms had no vacancies, A lot of the elite ten came from the polar star" she continued "It seems there was even a year when the elite ten was made entirely up of polar star students when Fumio-san starts talking about that it'll take a while"

The group of the best in this school of elites. Erina was part of them even though she's only a first year. Sai was thinking and stared at the cup he hadn't drunk from yet "I've been wondering but what is this?" maybe he was being paranoid but the murkiness and smell…

"Hey this can't be illicitly brewed sake" Souma took notice.

"It's just juice made from rice" Ryoko told them. While behind them someone brought out golden tea and Zenji was complaining about their actions.

"Amazing It's just too much of a lawless area" Souma muttered "Does this dorm only have weirdos?"

"If so you'll fit in perfectly" "No… Souma-kun if it's you, you'll fit in really soon" Megumi and Sai muttered together.

In a few minutes the room turned into a party zone "It's here!" someone declared "Isshiki-senpai's 'By the time I noticed I was wearing a nude apron illusion!'"

Ryoko was giving a happy embarrassed expression, Yuki was happily clapping, Zenji was screaming from them to leave, and Sai wasn't sure what Shun sounded like since he just sat there drinking, and in the middle of them Souma was cheerfully going along with them while Isshiki-senpai walked around the room with only a bear apron.

"Food! There's not enough food!" Souma decreed

"I knew it" Megumi sighed.

"So this is dorm life in Japan" Sai nodded seeing it was a lot different from what he imagined.

"Here I'll bring what I smoked today" Shun finally spoke and brought back a plate "Smoked cheese and three types of jerky" he showed them.

Smoked food? Sai remembered the smoke from a little while ago "It couldn't be right?" It looked pretty fresh and adding Fumio's earlier words Sai took back that statement it was definitely him.

"Delicious!" Souma yelled "I can't have enough of this smoky salt flavor!"

"There's no mistakes in Ibusaki's work!" Marui who's just going with it now agreed.

"Orah! The supplements! Eat." Placing down a dish of vegetables one of the other first years grinned "It's tasty right?" he laughed "Well the fried shrimp I made last week were better" the other boy said and they started an argument glaring at each other like delinquency before a showdown.

"You always make too much food like that! Do it with moderation" Yuki sensibly shot them down.

"Shut up Gibier woman! The area around your room always smells like wild animals!" they yelled.

"Guys who say things like that will make me want to teach them again" sticking out her tongue in a cute way Yuki continued "How charming my little Gibiers can be" turning she cracked her fingers "Wait for about one hour" Feeling the killing aura they called back out.

"She's gonna kill a duck or something this late?" Megumi ran up to her.

"Yuuki-chan calm down~!"

Seeing this Souma had the perfect solution "Wait, Wait, why not just trying the new dish I made today" opening up a lunch box he asked with a creepy face.

"Oh Yukihira! Alright, Bring it on!" taking it like a challenge they went over and placed some into their mouths "It's horrible!" spitting it out Yuki laughed at their reaction.

"Sorry that was a failure" Souma held onto an insanely creepy smile.

"I can't tell if that was to stop Yoshino-san or just for enjoyment" staring at his face Sai mentioned but either way it did stop her from killing some helpless animal.

Constant partying for a few hours slowly showed it's effects as people began to pass out "Ah tonight sure was fun" Isshiki-senpai expressed staring at Souma and Sai who were still awake "Let me welcome you two again, Souma-kun Sai-kun best regards!" he said.

"Yeah same here" Souma replied and Sai had mixed feeling about having his name be said like that.

"We're out of food" Satoshi noticed "There should be some slices of Spanish mackerel I'll make something" he got up and left.

"He's seriously gonna cook looking like that?" Souma asked.

"I agree but technically aprons are made for cooking" Sai returned.

"Here it's done have some" handing them a dish they both nodded reaching out

"I'll eat then" Souma said placing some in his mouth.

A spring wind passed both of them. This is good. Sai thought his eyes widening. It's on another level compared to the other students should it even be possible for something like this to happen? Trying to process it he remembered Isshiki-senpai was the only second year but could that really make such a huge difference?

"By the way" he took both their attention from the dish "I heard you said something fairly interesting in the opening ceremony" taking off his hat he was left completely nude with the exception of the apron "Aiming for Tootsuki's top might not be as easy as you think"

Turning to Souma Sai could tell he also noticed something about the dish "I'm the seventh seat of Tootsuki's elite ten" with an expression that couldn't possibly work for his clothing he caught them both off-guard "Now next! I would like to try my underclassmans food I wonder what kind of dish will be prepared for me"

With a grin Souma unwrapped the towel around his arm "Wait a bit" taking the challenge he exited the room.

"Are you not going with him?" he asked seeing Sai still sit there.

"Nah Yukihira-san's the one that challenged the top I don't think I can match this" tasting the dish he couldn't imagine how this dish could have been prepared so delicately and quickly even though he was from the land of fast food.

Getting a strange glare from his senpai "That's a bit sad don't you think?" Crunching his eyes brows Sai stared at him.

"Thinking about all the dishes you've prepared so far had some kind of push behind it correct? To enter the academy and to enter this dorm you've placed your concentration into it and now you just sit back idle while Souma-kun takes the light"

Nodding Sai didn't really think he started cooked to entertain others but because it was helpful. After a while he just saw it as a hobby and never really took much notice on it.

"Then as your senpai I'm telling you this now" without hesitation "Remove yourself from this academy" Sai froze.

"Souma-kun isn't the only one of his kind" sniffing the air Sai already noticed Souma's dish being prepared "There isn't a single student here who doesn't want to become the best" standing up he looked down on Sai "Half-hearted motivation and luck can only get you so far to keep your pride intact leave" this was his recommendation.

Gritting his teeth Sai got up "Fine let's see if I can make something" I've put way too much time into my skills for you to just call it half-hearted! Was what was in Sai's head as he went down to the kitchen passing Souma.

"Shiokawa?" seeing him pass Souma entered the room "Senpai before we continue I'm just wondering is senpai's house a Japanese cooking restaurant or something?" he asked.

"Why do you think that?" the Seventh seat asked.

"Mackerel cooked with peppers is a standard dish in Japanese-style food and this work can't just be done by any restaurant around there" Souma easily saw that the Mackerel meat was cooked so delicately it wasn't soggy adding the spring cabbage purée gave a surprise. However the viscous soft sweetness fits the mackerel perfectly uniting the springs seasonal ingredients to enhance each other's flavors.

"Like this I'm presenting you with Yukihira's secret menu #20!" placing down the plate he said this.

"Yukihira?" Senpai asked.

"My home a special of the day shop! Just like senpai did I made Yukihira's popular dish with spring as theme!"

As they were talking the others were slowly being awoken by the smell of cooking food "Oh did Yukihira-kun make something again?" Yuki asked seeing them talk.

"I wonder if he's still hungry" Ryoko guessed

"It seems it's a cooking showdown" Shun corrected straightening his back.

"Oh Ibusaki! You were awake?"

"I woke up just before"

Nodding her Yuki's mind processed it "Wait they're having a showdown? Why, Why?" she leaned in close. The seventh seat of the elite ten vs. the new upstarts that appeared out of nowhere.

"I wonder but it seems this match was challenged from Isshiki-senpai"

After a bit of silence "In this case we don't need to make comments about senpai's attire?" she asked.

"I would feel bad pouring cold water when they're have a showdown" agreeing their attention focused on Souma as he uncovered his dish.

"It's done"


	7. Chapter 6

**Really sorry about that wrong chapter**

* * *

Apologizing Sai walked down with his senpai "Sorry for that it was a reflex from living in the land of Crime lords, Terrorist, and Government Assassins"

With an almost fearful grin he shook his head "No worries reflexes are good!" giving a thumbs up Sai noticed his legs shaking as they entered his room.

Or at least he thought it was the senpai's room "I told you!" a shorter boy with smooth black hair and round glasses yelled out "I'm busy studying for the written exams! If you're having a party feel free to do it in another room!" looking around Sai saw Souma sitting next to a depressed girl with black hair wrapped in braids "Why do you always do it in my room!"

"It can't be helped~ Marui's room is the biggest of all" the animal girl he saw earlier that day was checking her nails "And it's always clean when we come~"

Pointing at her in a slightly angry way he yelled "Don't just go and sit on my bed!"

Sai turned left and right. It was a big room filled with lots of books across from the animal girl was another boy with large bangs covering his eyes and at the window were two older boys who were talking and finally "Yamato Nadeshiko!" They actually exist! Sai was blessed happy he came to this school now.

Hearing him Souma turned "Oh hey Sai!" he said then turned the girl next to him around "This is the girl I was telling about! Tadokoro Megumi meet Shiokawa Sai" he said.

Bowing Sai saw it looked like shes been crying heavily on the inside "Still I never thought we would be going to the same dorm" she nodded then her eyes widened.

"Wait does that mean Souma-kun and Shiokawa-san passed the dorm entrance skill test at your first try?" she exclaimed.

"Well yeah I'm glad I somehow managed" Sai nodded in agreement sitting down.

"Especially after you took all the ingredients" laughing lightly Souma didn't respond.

"That's amazing… I don't think there are many people that pass on the first try" looking between them she then turned her gaze away. I can't tell him it took me three months!

Coming in the hazel haired senpai looked around "Hey, Hey! I called out for everyone in the dorm, you know" he counted the number in the room "But there's not even half of them here"

"Well it can't be helped right?" one of the boys in the back mentioned "Isshiki-senpai tells us to gather almost everyday so everyone's got tired of it"

"They got tired, that can't be, right?" he asked them "I mean Tadokoro-chan always participates"

"But if I don't participate he'll come to wake me up a few minutes later" she sighed depressingly.

"He'd eventually give up if you ignore him… Megumi you sure are conscientious" the Yamato Nadeshiko spoke.

With unrelenting will Satoshi stared out into the golden rays of the future "Listen everyone! Youngsters living under the same roof and eating food from the same stove. This is youth! This is being a student!" Continuing a grand speech he began to glow and sparkle "I yearned for that so I came to this dorm… Now let's enjoy a bright dorm life!"

"That's fine and all but just stop coming to call us using the loft"

Sighing he went up to Souma and Sai "So I'm second year Isshiki call me "Isshiki-senpai" everyone else are first years like you" shaking their hands he gave a warm smile "Welcome to the polar star dorm"

Souma nodded "It's a pleasure to be here I'm Yukihira Souma"

Next to him Sai also shook his hand "Hajimemashite boku Shiokawa Sai"

"Now let's have a toast! All of you grab a drink!" he announced.

"Here you two" pouring cups for both of them from a large glass bottle the Yamato Nadeshiko handed them both cups.

Watching the party for a bit Souma spoke up "Is it okay to make this much noise so late?" he asked.

"It's okay I mean this place is surrounded by a forest" she reminded him.

"But well, there's the dorm mother…" as Souma spoke the voice came from the speaker.

"Hey You people!" jumping back Sai got to the side farthest from it.

"The Yakuza mom is pissed!" he yelled in English.

"I have Daikon broiled in soy sauce, Have someone come for it!" both of them gave a blank expression as Isshiki-senpai was expressing his love. Guess not Sai muttered in his heart.

"I guess it's okay then" Souma muttered

"Come back before Fumio-san starts bragging about the Elite Ten!" someone called out.

"Right what is the elite ten anyway?" Sai remembered Erina being part of some council called the 'Elite Ten'.

"You're seriously asking?" Ryoko (Yamato Nadeshiko) asked

"You really entered Tootsuki without knowing anything huh" Yuki took a drink while still sitting on the bed.

"Tootsuki elite ten council. A committee formed by the best ten students in the internal evaluations. In Tootsuki, many affairs are left for the students to decide. What to do in these affairs is decided by the members of the elite ten in their conferences. They're directly below the director in the organizational charts, even the lecturers must obey the elite ten. It's truly the highest decision-making group in the academy"

So like a student council Sai summarized "Decades ago, when the dorm's rooms had no vacancies, A lot of the elite ten came from the polar star" she continued "It seems there was even a year when the elite ten was made entirely up of polar star students when Fumio-san starts talking about that it'll take a while"

The group of the best in this school of elites. Erina was part of them even though she's only a first year. Sai was thinking and stared at the cup he hadn't drunk from yet "I've been wondering but what is this?" maybe he was being paranoid but the murkiness and smell…

"Hey this can't be illicitly brewed sake" Souma took notice.

"It's just juice made from rice" Ryoko told them. While behind them someone brought out golden tea and Zenji was complaining about their actions.

"Amazing It's just too much of a lawless area" Souma muttered "Does this dorm only have weirdos?"

"If so you'll fit in perfectly" "No… Souma-kun if it's you, you'll fit in really soon" Megumi and Sai muttered together.

In a few minutes the room turned into a party zone "It's here!" someone declared "Isshiki-senpai's 'By the time I noticed I was wearing a nude apron illusion!'"

Ryoko was giving a happy embarrassed expression, Yuki was happily clapping, Zenji was screaming from them to leave, and Sai wasn't sure what Shun sounded like since he just sat there drinking, and in the middle of them Souma was cheerfully going along with them while Isshiki-senpai walked around the room with only a bear apron.

"Food! There's not enough food!" Souma decreed

"I knew it" Megumi sighed.

"So this is dorm life in Japan" Sai nodded seeing it was a lot different from what he imagined.

"Here I'll bring what I smoked today" Shun finally spoke and brought back a plate "Smoked cheese and three types of jerky" he showed them.

Smoked food? Sai remembered the smoke from a little while ago "It couldn't be right?" It looked pretty fresh and adding Fumio's earlier words Sai took back that statement it was definitely him.

"Delicious!" Souma yelled "I can't have enough of this smoky salt flavor!"

"There's no mistakes in Ibusaki's work!" Marui who's just going with it now agreed.

"Orah! The supplements! Eat." Placing down a dish of vegetables one of the other first years grinned "It's tasty right?" he laughed "Well the fried shrimp I made last week were better" the other boy said and they started an argument glaring at each other like delinquency before a showdown.

"You always make too much food like that! Do it with moderation" Yuki sensibly shot them down.

"Shut up Gibier woman! The area around your room always smells like wild animals!" they yelled.

"Guys who say things like that will make me want to teach them again" sticking out her tongue in a cute way Yuki continued "How charming my little Gibiers can be" turning she cracked her fingers "Wait for about one hour" Feeling the killing aura they called back out.

"She's gonna kill a duck or something this late?" Megumi ran up to her.

"Yuuki-chan calm down~!"

Seeing this Souma had the perfect solution "Wait, Wait, why not just trying the new dish I made today" opening up a lunch box he asked with a creepy face.

"Oh Yukihira! Alright, Bring it on!" taking it like a challenge they went over and placed some into their mouths "It's horrible!" spitting it out Yuki laughed at their reaction.

"Sorry that was a failure" Souma held onto an insanely creepy smile.

"I can't tell if that was to stop Yoshino-san or just for enjoyment" staring at his face Sai mentioned but either way it did stop her from killing some helpless animal.

Constant partying for a few hours slowly showed it's effects as people began to pass out "Ah tonight sure was fun" Isshiki-senpai expressed staring at Souma and Sai who were still awake "Let me welcome you two again, Souma-kun Sai-kun best regards!" he said.

"Yeah same here" Souma replied and Sai had mixed feeling about having his name be said like that.

"We're out of food" Satoshi noticed "There should be some slices of Spanish mackerel I'll make something" he got up and left.

"He's seriously gonna cook looking like that?" Souma asked.

"I agree but technically aprons are made for cooking" Sai returned.

"Here it's done have some" handing them a dish they both nodded reaching out

"I'll eat then" Souma said placing some in his mouth.

A spring wind passed both of them. This is good. Sai thought his eyes widening. It's on another level compared to the other students should it even be possible for something like this to happen? Trying to process it he remembered Isshiki-senpai was the only second year but could that really make such a huge difference?

"By the way" he took both their attention from the dish "I heard you said something fairly interesting in the opening ceremony" taking off his hat he was left completely nude with the exception of the apron "Aiming for Tootsuki's top might not be as easy as you think"

Turning to Souma Sai could tell he also noticed something about the dish "I'm the seventh seat of Tootsuki's elite ten" with an expression that couldn't possibly work for his clothing he caught them both off-guard "Now next! I would like to try my underclassmans food I wonder what kind of dish will be prepared for me"

With a grin Souma unwrapped the towel around his arm "Wait a bit" taking the challenge he exited the room.

"Are you not going with him?" he asked seeing Sai still sit there.

"Nah Yukihira-san's the one that challenged the top I don't think I can match this" tasting the dish he couldn't imagine how this dish could have been prepared so delicately and quickly even though he was from the land of fast food.

Getting a strange glare from his senpai "That's a bit sad don't you think?" Crunching his eyes brows Sai stared at him.

"Thinking about all the dishes you've prepared so far had some kind of push behind it correct? To enter the academy and to enter this dorm you've placed your concentration into it and now you just sit back idle while Souma-kun takes the light"

Nodding Sai didn't really think he started cooked to entertain others but because it was helpful. After a while he just saw it as a hobby and never really took much notice on it.

"Then as your senpai I'm telling you this now" without hesitation "Remove yourself from this academy" Sai froze.

"Souma-kun isn't the only one of his kind" sniffing the air Sai already noticed Souma's dish being prepared "There isn't a single student here who doesn't want to become the best" standing up he looked down on Sai "Half-hearted motivation and luck can only get you so far to keep your pride intact leave" this was his recommendation.

Gritting his teeth Sai got up "Fine let's see if I can make something" I've put way too much time into my skills for you to just call it half-hearted! Was what was in Sai's head as he went down to the kitchen passing Souma.

"Shiokawa?" seeing him pass Souma entered the room "Senpai before we continue I'm just wondering is senpai's house a Japanese cooking restaurant or something?" he asked.

"Why do you think that?" the Seventh seat asked.

"Mackerel cooked with peppers is a standard dish in Japanese-style food and this work can't just be done by any restaurant around there" Souma easily saw that the Mackerel meat was cooked so delicately it wasn't soggy adding the spring cabbage purée gave a surprise. However the viscous soft sweetness fits the mackerel perfectly uniting the springs seasonal ingredients to enhance each other's flavors.

"Like this I'm presenting you with Yukihira's secret menu #20!" placing down the plate he said this.

"Yukihira?" Senpai asked.

"My home a special of the day shop! Just like senpai did I made Yukihira's popular dish with spring as theme!"

As they were talking the others were slowly being awoken by the smell of cooking food "Oh did Yukihira-kun make something again?" Yuki asked seeing them talk.

"I wonder if he's still hungry" Ryoko guessed

"It seems it's a cooking showdown" Shun corrected straightening his back.

"Oh Ibusaki! You were awake?"

"I woke up just before"

Nodding her Yuki's mind processed it "Wait they're having a showdown? Why, Why?" she leaned in close. The seventh seat of the elite ten vs. the new upstarts that appeared out of nowhere.

"I wonder but it seems this match was challenged from Isshiki-senpai"

After a bit of silence "In this case we don't need to make comments about senpai's attire?" she asked.

"I would feel bad pouring cold water when they're have a showdown" agreeing their attention focused on Souma as he uncovered his dish.

"It's done"


	8. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the late update**

* * *

Entering the kitchen Sai couldn't help but be a bit mad "I don't even know what I'm doing anymore!" he declared starting up a stove. There were a surprising number of ingredients that were brought out from other places "If these were here… nevermind" Sai muttered.

His hands moved without him even knowing what he was doing but he already put together the dish "Three more minutes for the fish to finish absorbing the spices oil will be heated by then preparing next step" rice needs to sit for another four and a half minutes but the seaweed needs to be spread. In about eleven minutes and I'll be done. Reaching out to the bowl of eggs Sai stopped "Half-hearted motivation and luck" those words stung for some reason.

Retracting his hand Sai knew eggs weren't going to work with this dish.

Back up in the room Souma presented his dish "Mackerel Onigiri Chazuke!" showing them the bowls of rice he made called out "This dish is normally made using salmon, but today I tried making it using Mackerel. Come on everyone! It's done!"

Looking down at the dish Ryoko pushed back her hair "What's poured in it?"

"Salted kelp tea because the tender saltiness and body are perfect to put an end to a meal"

"Geez! If you make something like this I'll obviously get hungry!" Yuki complained holding her stomach.

Staring down at it their senpai gave it a look over. That would make it too much of a normal Chazuke. Something that could be served in a cheap restaurant. Taking a bit wondering what Souma did he placed it into his mouth along with the others.

Feeling the dish drop down their throats Yuki gasped "The Mackerel's meat is really juicy. More than anything the crunchy feeling of the rind mixes with the deliciousness that gushes forth with every bite"

With a light blush Ryoko also gave her comment "Just by broiling it you can't get that feel just how did he..." wondering Satoshi gave the answer for her.

"It's poêlée" he said "This Mackerel was cooked doing poêlée"

They all stared at him with shock "Why are you surprised too!" Yuki yelled seeing Souma's expression.

"No, I was wondering what poêlée is"

Hearing this Satoshi turned to him "Could you tell me Souma-kun. Why do you know a French cooking technique?"

"Well I learned this cooking method from my old man" he explained "He said that, it was ideal to stylishly give the finishing touches to fish"

Eating the fish together with the rice or dip it into the tea for a completely different texture either way this is a dish you can't miss.

"Did your dad study french cuisine?" Souma shrugged.

"Well, I don't really know it seems he's cooked in various countries" remembering all the times they've had calls from other countries Souma didn't really understand it himself.

What a free way of cooking. Satoshi thought thinking of how a Japanese dish was prepared with a French cooking style. The rice shines with a pure white just like snow. This dish represents the moment when winter turns to spring this first blooming flower. Increasing their vigor the bowls were empty in no time at all.

With a simple expression Souma took off his head band "It wasn't much"

Seeing all of them tremble Satoshi even began to cry "Beautiful. It was snow thawing, Souma-kun!"

"That's my line!" thinking back to his other dish "I felt a refreshing spring wind!" shaking his hand "Thanks for the great match"

Waking up Megumi looked over the scene "What's going on here?" seeing her classmate shaking hands with a mostly naked man in tears.

"Marui! Marui?" clapping his face they tried to wake him "It's no good he won't wake get up" looking back at his room they went to the door "Alright it's over!" they announced "We'll definitely clean before leaving next time Marui! Next time for sure seriously" Leaving the boy on the ground they all left.

"At any rate why did Isshiki-senpai challenge Souma-kun to a cooking showdown?" Megumi asked and felt something wrong.

"I wonder I guess because he's a whimsy person" Ryoko answered.

"It's no use worrying about what that odd-ball things!" Looking back Shun held a suspicious look. when Yuki sniffed the air "Hey what's that smell?" everyone took a sniff

"You're right" following their noises they started going down the stairs.

* * *

"Here Marui-kun sleep warmly" placing a blanket over his friend Satoshi turned back to Souma "Souma-kun with this welcome part you're now part of the polar star if there's anything you don't understand don't be afraid to ask" he offered.

Instantly Souma took it "Then how can I become one of the elite ten?" he asked without any sort of special emotion.

"That's right you're taking this academies top right?" he asked remembering.

"I'm in the middle of a fight with my old man" Souma nodded "For him to approve of me I have to do that much" explaining without pause he continued "Our showdown just now ended up as a tie but if I had beaten senpai now would I have become Tootsuki's #7?" with a dark expression he gave an innocent question.

A tear streamed out from his eye "Wonderful! That's a wonderful ambition Souma-kun!" with a bright light Satoshi didn't take any of the tension "I'm moved right now students living in the polar star should be like this!" Souma shaken by how unshaken his senpai was only nodded "But let's postpone this for now it's really late" turning out the door he waved "Let's rest too Souma-kun!" heading out his expression darkened.

The words you said that day will carry real weight from now on. You'll understand little by little of how much cooking means everything in this school.

Walking down the hallway Satoshi was glad the new students had so much energy then stopped "Right there was him" noticing a strange scent in the air he went down to the kitchen to kind the others all gathered around the table eating a stack of plates.

"Oh hey senpai you're just in time we almost ran out!" Yuki yelled up.

"Guy's this dish was made just for him don't go eating all the ingredients!" Sai yelled from the kitchen moving like a whirlwind.

Going down he saw on the table was something similar to sushi yet not. It was a small bite sized piece of a small green lump. Seaweed? Picking up one of the few remaining pieces he glanced at Sai who walked over "This was not worth it" wiping off his sweat he figured he would need another shower.

Looking at the wrapped piece he stared at the others who were all laughingly consuming the plates he made and took a bit.

Widening his eyes he could only imagine that his dish was the opposite of Souma's where his was the changing of the winter to the beautiful spring then Sai's was the transformation of a calm and tranquil spring lake to the expressive free spirit of the summer sun. Starting with the soft seaweed the signal for playing began and soon entered into various layers of seasonings until hitting a layer of rice paper before entering into the juicy texture of grilled fish.

It was random each bite was different there was no set pattern in the taste almost as if the seasons were resonating creating a complex waltz which was impossible to follow "Amazing" finishing his first one Sai nodded.

"After grilling the salmon after adding the right amount of spices, I wrapped it in rice paper then took out seaweed which I carefully moist with a mix of oils and juices to created this dish" nodding Satoshi easily saw how this dish was constructed and stared at the equipment Sai was using.

"My cousin made me make something using the leftover salmon so this is it" Sai glared at him with a fire "You can't call this half-hearted"

Did they have anything like rice paper? Was Satoshi's first question when he ate that dish but seeing a pan and some other out of place extra equipment his eyes widened. He made his own rice paper. The way the fish was so delicately wrapped twice must've taking it's time and yet he made so many.

Staring at the clock Sai couldn't of had much longer than twenty minutes. Although the taste on a scale would by two or three levels under Souma's creation in sense of flavor and texture it's bite sizes proportions gave a different feeling altogether. How is it possible to of prepared all this in twenty minutes? Frying the fish, making the rice paper, carefully moistening the seaweed so it softens but not sogs, wrapping it all together twice while adding in the layers of seasonings, in twenty minutes the only way that could have been possible if there was an entire cooking crew of well-train and experienced chefs.

"Sai what was your reason for coming to Tootsuki?" putting down the plate Satoshi asked.

"My dad sent me" a simple answer.

"That's regretful if you put in a little more you may of made an incredibly extraordinary dish" as good as it was there were easily seen ways to of improved it "A goal is what makes effort Sai what are your goals?"

Clenching his hand Sai couldn't answer "This truly is a bit half hearted" Satoshi muttered "You have the talent but that's it every time you use your talent without any motivation it's just slowly becomes wasted"

Staring at Sai he gave the simple truth "I'm going to sleep now there is school tomorrow" he muttered walking passed them.

Dropping onto his bed Sai glared at the ceiling "I know it's half-hearted" was the worst part. But he spent too much time increasing his skills for such a simple judgement "This truly sucks" thinking about his brother who dedicated his life to his art he wondered just what has he been doing.

There wasn't a single goal in his mind that's what made him so different from his siblings "I wonder just how much effort the placed into something they loved" closing his eyes Sai let his conscious drop.

* * *

Waking up in a hazy dream Sai got back up in his room and checked the time "Zack wake up" looking up the bunk bed he shook his brother awake and after seeing some movement went down to the kitchen and began cooking.

Laying out a plate and coffee his dad came out of the bathroom and sat down beginning to eat. Looking back he might've saw a figure go out of the room and brought a plate to room farthest down the hall.

"Egg's and fried potatoes with a few cuts of ham" he said placing it before his mother who was typing on the computer even though it was useless before he grabbed her coffee cup and went back to the kitchen to refill it. Before bringing it back he took out a few herbs from the cabinet and boiled some water in a kettle.

Walking back from his mother Sai took the water and poured it into a tea pot and added an assortment of herbs and saw the light in his and Zack's room turn on meaning he finally got up and began cooking another few pancakes while pouring the tea into a travel bottle then placed it on the counter next to the door.

Slowly his sister came out of the hallway yawning and reading a file Sai poured her a different mix of herbs and put it on the table in front of her before finishing Zack's breakfast and put it next to his dad's food. Seeing the first tea he made gone he looked out the window and saw his cousin leaving for work.

Finishing all of this mornings errands he made himself an omelette and sat down "Thanks Sai this is great!" Zack exclaimed biting into the breakfast burger happily.

"There are some improvements but if you like it that's good" Sai waved as Zack and their father headed out the door.

That was it for the morning then after school he would ride the bus over to King's Palace and begin his shift. Nothing more nothing less his cooking was just a method of support for the geniuses of the family "In the end I just have to help from the shadows" that was the single meaning of his existence.


	9. Chapter 8

With a sigh Sai sat down in class "It looks like something happened" Sitting next to Hisako commented.

"Yeah you must be please" Sai sighed hoping his own enrollment wasn't included. I did just declared war against Isshiki-senpai.

"Yukihira-san's resignation is already wide spread" she nodded both her and Erina liked the outcome of the situation "All that's left is for you to leave along with him"

"I can't just yet"

Staring at his blank gaze Hisako thought about the day before. I'm going to properly watch his cooking style this time. A cooking ability aimed for support while making it seem as though he wasn't there Hisako was sure to find the trick to how it worked.

Laying out the dish the instructor nodded "This is the closest thing I've ever tasted to a perfect stir fry definitely A!" he nodded but she just sat back down with her head on the table.

He vanished again! Staring at the boy who was observing a knife he was cleaning she couldn't understand how his head worked "After this class we have a knowledge type class right?" Sai asked sitting back down next to her.

"Yeah the subject was the chemical nature in meats specifically pork" she sighed and stared at him "Hey Shiokawa where do you work at?" she asked him.

"A place called King's Palace back in America" he responded "Do you have a place you work at?"

"It isn't a kitchen but- Why am I telling you this!" she yelled getting up "I can't understand you if you have the time to be socializing with me you should be preparing how to leave this school!"

Sighing he shrugged "I can't do that just yet Arato-sama" he responded thinking about his promise.

"As much as I don't like it I have been doing what Erina-sama asked of me" she crossed her arms "You're Zack Thilian's brother aren't you"

Sai's eyes widened and turned "How'd you find that out? I'm under a different name"

"Shiokawa was your great-grandfathers name but it is surprising for you to be related to someone like that" she muttered thinking with that knowledge he would stand out more but he just seemed way too ordinary "Although he isn't exactly a celebrity there aren't many that can enter something like the Ferruccio Busoni before getting out of middle school"

Sai nodded "That was an interesting week so what else do you want say?" if things keep going it was going to be the same as back home.

"No that's it but the world has a way with things doesn't it?" she muttered "Both brothers rely solely on luck and wit to get to where they are" hearing a clash she turned.

"And what the heck does that mean?" picking up the things he dropped Sai asked her.

"You were only able to enter this school thanks to Erina-sama's kindness for having the ingredient be egg and Zack's only gotten as far as he has through an enormous amount of luck it's impossible for some young musician to of gotten to where he is now otherwise" she explained not looking at Sai who was picking up the things he dropped "Especially with such a dull sound" after finding out who his brother was she obtained a few of his latest recording and found it a waste of time.

Slamming his hand into the table Hisako was slightly startled "Take that back" Sai got up with a menacing glare

"What?" feeling killing aura from the boy Hisako found herself mentally retreating.

"I don't care how much you hate me but take back what you said about my brother" his arms tightened. All the times Zack ended up getting home late, barely managing to wake up in the morning, all the extra effort he put into his music. Staring down at her Sai's fingers cracked "You don't have the right to say that about him" getting up Hisako tried to even their standing but was still looking up to an overpowering being

"I won't in the end it's true that his music is just simple noise!" what right did this man have to talk to me in this manner she tried to create confidence.

"If this was america I couldn't guarantee your life but since this is Tootsuki let's settle it this way" locking eyes Hisako saw a demon hiding in the form of human flesh "Let's have a Shokugeki Arato-sama you can choose anything you want from me but if I win take back what you said and formally listen to his music" hearing his challenge she smiled.

"Fine then when I win you'll leave Tootsuki for good along with Yukihira" Sai nodded accepting the terms.

"Who chooses the theme?"

Hisako took initiative although she hated to admit it if even Erina approved of his dish then they can't have a battle on his field "As the challenged party I have the rights to choose the theme is seafood and the main ingredient will be Clams"

Egg's don't work well in this situation "Alright after this we need to get everything else in order when will it happen?" Hisako gave a superior smiled.

"Leave the preparations to me I doubt you'll be able to set it up in time and for when" with a devilish grin she decided "Right after Yukihira's defeat in three days!" nodding Sai accepted.

* * *

Now I feel like Souma. Sai sighed walking down the halls and remembered "Right maybe I should go check on them" he considered but shook his head "Hopefully they'll do fine" I can't help in the creation of a Don dish.

Clams… Although he can think of a dish he was probably going to have to test it. Remembering his current expenses he was going to have to be careful.

Bumping into someone Sai turned "Sorry" seeing the student he continued walking.

"Hey is that all you're going to say to your Senpai!" grabbing him he turned Sai around to face him.

"I'm a second year have more respect Kohan" Sai nodded

"My apologies but I'm kind of in the middle of something" he turned.

"Hey don't just brush me off like that! I'm Sihara Kuroe of the Ocean Life Research Society!" he demanded bringing Sai back.

"Hajimemashite boku Shiokawa Sai" he responded deep in thought then his eyes widened. Ocean Life? "Hey does that mean you guys are a seafood group?" Sai asked amazed wondering if it was a sign.

"Well yeah even Erina-sama approves of us so we have a fabulous budget so show me more respect!" Sai grinned.

"Hey let's have a Shokugeki"

* * *

Finishing another prototype Souma clicked his tongue "Still not enough" looking at the remaining budget he yelled out the window "Curse you old man!" he yelled looking back at the remaining dons he made with Megumi and Kanachi exhausted "A Beef don that fits…" looking down he saw a bunch of excited students running around "Hey what's going on?"

Megumi looked out "It looks like they're gather in one of the duel halls" she explained pointing at one of the Shokugeki fields.

"This might be good to watch" they needed a change of pace and went over into the hall.

"I wonder who's fighting who for this kind of attention" Kanachi commented as they went into the duel room and found two chefs cooking "Hey isn't that Sai?"

"Yeah" they nodded seeing him move through the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Megumi asked one of the spectators.

"Oh one of the hot headed rookies got in a fight with Arato and is now challenging a senpai for some reason" he explained "I heard it was because he knew he would lose to Arato so to try and keep his pride challenged someone that it would be normal to lose to to get expelled!" "Haha! It has to be like that!"

"He got in a Shokugeki with Nakiri's attendant?" Kanachi exclaimed "Hey are you two crazy?" referring to both Souma and Sai he didn't know how to compare them "And Shiokawa seemed so calm too"

Souma nodded "Right that guys always calm he doesn't seem like the type to make rash decisions quickly" what in the world could've happened? "Wait is it even possible to prepare a Shokugeki this fast?"

"It's possible depending on when they actually challenged getting the judges is fairly easy if you know the right people and once that happens getting an authorized personal isn't that difficult but this was fast" Kanachi agreed seeing the judges.

That group is part of the seafood division as expected from the chief of the Ocean Life Research Society. Staring down at the chef it wasn't hard to remember him since they had a few classes together.

* * *

Finishing the dish he brought them a glowing made dish made of crab and shrimp "Excellent work as expected of a senpai of Tootsuki" eating the dish they all nodded seeing the dish being on a level of perfection.

Smiling he bowed "Thank you" he said while Sai walked up behind him.

"I can't say I liked being used as a tool to keep your pride but neverless this is the end of our meeting" he said and Sai nodded.

"You shouldn't listen to random yells from the audience especially when most of them don't like me in the first place" Sai responded placing the bowls on the table "If I win I get unlimited access to your stock of ingredients until my Shokugeki with Arato-sama does that really sound like something a prepared loser would asked?"

The judges unsatisfied expressions was easily seen seeing a simple mussel soup before them "No it doesn't but it doesn't change the fact you aren't going to have that match anyway" he shrugged grinning down to the judges as they began to eat.

Suddenly their expressions changed and began to fully immersed themselves into the bowl "The Clams give such a strong flavor that amplifies the strength of the texture within the rest of the soup along with the fruitiness that doesn't in anyway interfere with it's power" one of the judges spoke "Although there is something lacking in the feeling for when the soup goes down your throat the unexpected use of oranges strengthens the sourness and yet the soup has such a strong spice" agreeing he put down the empty bowl "Although clams aren't normally used in a dish like this as a replacement for the shellfish the primary characteristics of the clams were all released" Seeing the judges expressions Kuroe stared at them then back at Sai.

"Senpai I want your honest opinion" he asked "Do you believe you have any chance at facing the Elite Ten?" one of the judges placed their vote on Kuroe.

"The Elite Ten? You're kidding me I don't stand a chance" honestly admitting it seeing the score that the second judge placed for Sai his eyes widened.

"Then I have my work cut out for me" the third judge was struggling in her decision and compared the two plates before her.

"Is your target Nakiri of the Elite Ten?" he asked as she tasted the dishes once more and placed down her decision.

"No Isshiki Satoshi of the seventh seat" looking up at the final results Sai sighed "Thank you for a good match" Leaving the stage he looked back on the dish "Maybe I might've won…" Adding something about that texture problem after that it'll be complete "With all three judges" behind him Sai won with a close victory of two out of three.

* * *

Drinking from a cup of tea a girl with pure blond hair stared at the screen "It seems he won" she said.

"Worry not Erina-sama I shall take care of him soon" Hisako assured her.

"I see" Looking over the challenge Erina looked back on his file "Apparently it seems his skill set isn't limited to eggs" Hisako nodded.

"He works at a Thai restaurant seafood could be considered his second hand" looking at her friend Erina sighed "Is something wrong?" she asked

"No I'm rather relieved that Yukihira will be removed from this academy what bothers me right now is you, don't forget" she smiled "I am your friend what's bothering you?"

"Erina-sama" with a small voice of respect she coughed "Nothing there is nothing wrong" Erina nodded.

"Alright then that'll be all for today I'll see you in the morning" nodding Hisako walked out of the room.

Shiokawa… To make Erina-sama worry like that I will remove you from this school. Hisako's mind was filled with these thoughts as she entered her room. Before she went to sleep she decided to clear her thoughts for a bit and started a music file on her computer "Ah this!" finding it was the piece of Sai's brother she sat down and opened it up.

Staring at it she changed the file and her eyes widened "That can't be right" checking and rechecking her hands stopped. Slowly they began to move once more and opened the next file.

* * *

**I realize that the Shokugeki was a bit forced sorry about that**


	10. Chapter 9

Going down the stairs Sai saw the others awake and they saw him "Sai is true you beat an upper classmen?" Yuki asked first.

"Huh? Yeah I needed ingredients for the match against Arato-sama"

"Are you insane! Yukihira going against Mito aside you went against a second-year!"

With a shrug he didn't care "Anyway Tadokoro-san how's Yukihira-san's dish coming along?" he asked her.

"We're facing a lot of problems" she sighed.

"Don right? Meat…what are you using?" he asked going into the kitchen.

"Beef"

"Hey Shiokawa! Do you really think you can beat Arato?" finding his lack of tension annoying Yuki continued

"Doesn't matter what I think in the end" Sai responded looking over at Satoshi who just held a funny smile "Anyway I'm heading down to the school to prepare prototypes"

* * *

Going down the hall he walked into the Ocean Life research Society room and found a number of fish tanks "What is this place? An Aquarium?" he muttered looking through the glass into a squid tank.

"We raise them for the freshest and best results" standing at the door was another first year student like him. Short with long silky brown hair and matching sparkling eyes she looked up and over Sai a few times "So you're that other transfer kid" walking around him.

"Hajimemashite boku Shiokawa Sai" he replied glancing at the tank of clams.

"Foreigner? Your fluency isn't bad though I'm Titania Christina" nodding she placed her hands on her waist "I guessed you would be here to see what you reaped from my senpai yesterday"

Nodding Sai went over to the clam tank "Sorry I'll try and use the minimal amount" He still needed to fix some parts though since he barely won against that other guy with a slightly improvised dish.

"Thanks and I don't think you should be patting yourself on the back just yet" she advised "Senpai was easily going to be one of the first second years to be expelled and he went with a still experimental dish against you"

Nodding he understood what she meant if Sai fought against anyone else he would've lost by a long shot.

Taking out a laptop from his bag he began to type "Do you mind if I use the room for the day I'll leave once you guys start doing activities to stay out of your way" Sai wasn't planning on going back to classes for a while understanding this she nodding and sat down.

"Just in case I was assigned to supervise you"

"Alright Titania-san can I use this stove?" he asked and she nodded.

"Call me C.T. you're from America right? It shouldn't be a problem for you"

Taking a pan and a few pots Sai nodded and began to work.

Putting together the soup was the easy part but tasting it he did think there was a certain textural element missing "Maybe shrimp? No other shellfish will get in the way of the clam taste" thinking over it Christina looked up from her book.

"I've been wondering but why are you improving your dish?" she asked "It beat senpai even if he was only going half strength it'll probably beat most other freshman Nakiri Erina not included"

"Well I am going against her secretary" trying a new soup starting with salmon stock instead of chicken to see if he can make up for the texture with a ocean flavor.

"That does make sense wait don't use those" getting up she stopped Sai from adding oyster sauce and lemon cuts "What are you trying to make?" she looked into the pot and tasted a bit.

"Seafood fruit soup as weird as it sounds it's a legit dish" Sai responded also knowing it sounds a bit strange.

"That said this type of dish wouldn't bring out the full potential of the clams here" taking over the kitchen Sai waited a bit as she put together a clam chowder with a side of stuffed mussel shells.

Raising his eyebrows Sai took a the mussel and ate a bit. His eyes reflected the view of the ocean depths at first glance it seemed barren but not much time passed until life of wonder and mystery came out and into view. Trying the chowder a warm tropical taste swirled around his thoughts while he listened gently to the waves hitting coming back and forth from the sandy area below.

"Garlic?" he muttered licking his lips feeling a small aftertaste.

"You're sharp I fried shredded garlic and mixed it with Italian bread with multiple different minced vegetables before frying it into the mussels and added seasoning" she said surprised he got it so quickly.

"The chowder used onions, celery, potatoes, and bay leaves, along with vegetable stock" Sai analysed. Cooked right with clams, a strange flour, and thick cream.

"This type of dish brings the most of both the clams texture and flavor more than your soup does" Sai nodded thinking about how it worked.

"Thanks for the textural element I guess I can thicken the soup with flour and crunchy garlic" Sai thought about it.

"Definitely also lesson that fruit flavor I never understood how fruits tangy sourness and seafoods rich texture and flavor could possibly work together"

Shaking his head Sai took the kitchen back "Sit down for a bit give me another try" looking around not all the seafood was still live prepared ingredients were there to.

Trying again he grilled halibut with chopped celery and peaches with cherry sauce "This is good" widening her eyes she couldn't believe how well the tender halibut joined with the peaches juices "It's the sauce that fuses them together with the right combination but you also added celery to lesson its overpowering flavor"

"Hey where'd you make a dish like this?" she asked thinking it would be difficult to make something like this on the spot.

"Back home my mom gave the other chefs the assignment to make a new dishes to add to the menu. When they were about to finish the last ones the heads got into an argument between fruit dessert or fish curry since it was taking too long I had to compromise"

Since his mom was complaining a lot he spent three nights to make sure it was satisfactory "I see if this used clams you could probably use it in your match"

Sai noticed something "Hey I've been wondering but how do you know I have to use clams?" not remembering telling her.

"Wait..." staring at his face with careful examination her eyes widened "You're not lying you really don't know? Everyone's talking about it the rookie pair declaring war against Nakiri Erina" Sai dropped.

Come to think of it Mito-san is part of her group. Sai remembered how much Souma had probably angered the school and this act does seem like a declaration of war.

"Moshi-Moshi… Anyone there?" kneeling down she snapped her fingers in front of him.

"I'm not with him we just both happen to be outsiders I don't care about fighting Nikiri-ojousama" he muttered quietly to himself when his head started to heat.

"Hot!" getting up his hair was wet with hot water.

"Don't worry it was only about forty degrees Celsius" she laughed seeing him running to the cold tank and put some water in a bag to put on his head.

Coming back with a bag of near ice cold water she tried to choke down her laugh "Isn't that a hundred and four degrees Fahrenheit about?" he sighed sitting down his scalp hurting.

"Maybe but what were you saying?" she asked hearing Sai say something.

"It was nothing besides Nakiri-ojousama isn't my target" she gave him a confused look "I'm after Isshiki Satoshi"

Christina fought back a cough "The seventh seat! You aren't after the tenth but the seventh you really are just like that other guy from the ceremony" right after meeting him she had her doubts but they were pretty close to the same.

"Hey… I'm not as hot blooded as Yukihira-san" that said he didn't have much to prove it.

"Even so you aren't getting anywhere until you beat Arato-san back to work" she patted his back.

"Another thing I've been meaning to ask but why are you helping me? Most other first years hate me thanks to Yukihira-san and I beat your senpai to take control of your clubs assets" he was expecting something more along the lines of sabotage then this.

"Well I couldn't let you make a bad dish using seafood" in a simple reply she walked back to her chair and sat back down.

Smiling Sai took his own chair and opened his recipe files on his laptop and looked through them. Clam chowder… found it. Grabbing the needed ingredients he began cooking.

A half an hour of slow steady cooking he scooped up a bowl and tasted it "Hey C.T. you want to try?" he asked holding up the bowl.

Looking up from her book she looked at the time and did think it was getting close to lunch period so she tried it.

At first glance it looked incredibly simple just plain clam chowder but when she pressed her spoon into the surface she found a strange tug. Going deeper she found oranges and lime slices looking up at Sai with a questioning gaze she took a bite.

Starting with the first verse of the texture it was smooth it just swirled around her tongue in a single sequence before releasing the deep swing of fruity citrus flavor that gave a sensational tingle when added with the clam's juices. In the next bite the texture was just as smooth to begin before a sudden turn brought out the specialties of the oyster sauce when it combined over with simple vegetables. With each bite into the dish new combinations 'between each flavor shot out. A chest of adventure with each bite revealing new properties.

"I'm not even sure where to begin" Christina honestly admitted placing it down.

"Is that a good thing?" Sai asked taking the empty bowl.

"Yeah actually if I had to start somewhere it would be that soft doughy texture that first enters into my mouth after that the display of ingredients shot out in extraordinary ways" thinking about it deeply she wondered about it "But there was still a lot more fruit than seafood" most of the combinations had a soft taste of lime which hadn't entirely help since it diluted the clam flavor.

Thinking Sai nodded "No fruit seafood soup then let's try more ocean stuff"

Changing the dish a few more times and carefully discussing how to fully bring out the main ingredient Sai began to noticed Christina giving him a confused look with a tilted head "Is something wrong?"

Also noticing her stare Christina blinked her eyes a few times "No it's just you are… really not what I expected" her first impression was from Souma's speech, and the second time she saw him was when he beat her senpai.

These actions made her think he was a cocky stuck up kid who thought he ruled the world. At first she came just to try and start something but his first attitude towards her gave a different feeling which was flipped multiple times in the course of a few hours and after giving him lectures about how to use clam's he accepted it and incorporated it while still using his own style. Her verdict he was pretty normal as a person.

Raising an eyebrow Sai thought about it "Positive or Negative context"

"Positive… I think but the one thing I know for certain is that you're pretty rational so why'd you start a Shokugeki with Arato-san?" Just from the way he cooks she could tell that much so he didn't seem like someone who would rashly make a decision like that.

"Rational? That's a first" Sai smiled "I kind of got caught up in the moment and since I didn't want to go to jail for manslaughter the Shokugeki was the only thing I could think of probably because Yukihira-san was still fresh in my mind"

"Manslaughter! You were planning on killing her?" Christina couldn't tell if he was joking and if he wasn't she decided to correct what she thought of him.

"No manslaughter is when you don't plan it and it just happens" he didn't deny that he was about to commit manslaughter.

"What could she have done to make you want to do that?"

"She insulted my brother what does she know about music anyway"

Christina's eyes gave him a confused look "No it's hard to explain here" going over to the laptop he opened a music file.

Her eyes continued to widen with each note that was played through the computer "This…" she couldn't understand it when a tear came down her eye.

"You okay?" seeing her Sai stopped the music player.

"No… sorry I was just…" wiping her eyes she turned away "Class are almost over so the clubs starting soon"

Getting the hidden message that she wanted him to leave he grabbed his things and went out the door.

* * *

Sitting alone next to the tanks Christina's eyes darkened. A simple melody with a deep infinite soul which symbolizes a free spirit venturing through any challenges through it's life. Feelings of regret surfaced since coming to Tootsuki was her only free willed choice so different from that majestic symphony which continued to echo in her mind.

Suddenly she realized it wasn't just in her mind but a different song echoed around the room when a plate was handed to her. Why was someone else here? When did they arrive? Who they were? What was the dish held in front of her?

These questions went through her head and at the same time she wouldn't think as she reached out to the stuffed clam shells and slurped up it's contents.

A sweet harmonic tone brought out by the flavor emphasized it's golden texture through a soft curtain of a creamy substance. Both her tongue and her ears resonated through her nerves multiplying both sensations opening the gate to a new song.

In a haze she saw her parents constantly having their expectations dropped at the sight of a useless daughter and it wasn't until graduating primary school Christina got accepted into Tootsuki middle school division that they finally showed some positive interest.

* * *

Finding her eyes reopening Christina looked left to right "Awake?"

Next to her reading a book was an oddly familiar black haired boy "Where are we?"

"Nurses office you suddenly passed out" Sai responded but couldn't help but hold a smile. I heard that passionate music resonates with the soul. Not bad bro.

"I see" laying back down she thought about her dream "Hey Shiokawa-kun you're from America but where's your family from?"

Looking over Sai leaned back and stared at the ceiling "My parents grew up in Thailand but I heard both my grandmothers were Chinese"

"How did you grow up in America?"

Wondering what she meant Sai thought about his childhood "My sister would scare me and I played legos a lot in my early years with my brother" she shook her head

"I'm talking about how differently you were compared to other kids"

That was a much easier question "I didn't go to church or any other kind of religious thing my parents weren't home to often at first so I had a lot of time by myself when we started interacting it was after my sister became a temporary shut in doing online jobs and my brother went to music school"

Thinking about it she nodded "My parents both grew up in New England they moved here because of work and then I was born. They didn't want a Japanese daughter though I had to follow the rules of the household strictly before I knew it I became different from the few friends I had that's why I couldn't wait to get out and come to Tootsuki" she didn't know why she was talking but all she knew was that she was feeling much better.

"That sounds a bit nice" Sai admitted "My parents didn't care who or what I grew up into it was only after I ended up saving their business they started taking interest in my existence"

"That can't be true" Christina couldn't imagine something like that.

"I'm Zack Thilian's brother" her eyes widened.

"Zack Thilian! Isn't he the winner of the international junior orchestration festival?"

With a smile Sai nodded "I'm surprise you know that"

"My parents wanted me to go into music… you're his brother!"

"Yeah don't tell anyone I can't really say why but it felt like the right thing to say"

Being the brother of such a talented person although the details were different they shared the feeling of being different. Understanding she saw him look at the time "I should probably get going see you tomorrow C.T." he waved.

"Wait Shiokawa-kun!" she called reaching out. He turned "Do you mind if I start calling you just Sai? Shiokawa is a bit long"

"Yeah no problem I'm from America remember? You don't have to add san or kun either that just sounds strange" nodding she thought about it.

"How about Sai-tan" she teased thinking it was kind of cute.

"Satan? No just Sai works" she nodded feeling better.

After he left she thought to herself carefully and pulled the blanket over herself "Sai… huh" this was the first time she had ever called a boy by his surname before.


	11. Chapter 10

Thinking about the earlier events a certain girl's eyes continued to more into a daze "Hey Titania-chan you still awake?" someone snapped their fingers in front of her.

"What? Yeah what are we doing?" looking back at her club members.

"We're talking about the tour to the nearby fisherman's market but with that freshman there's a pretty high chance our budget will start going down"

There's still that problem "Our third year senpai got beat by a freshmen do you know how badly that reflects on this Research Society?"

As the other members were carefully discussing their course of action Christina's eyes went back out the window down to the setting sun. I can't wait for the sun to come back up. Smiling the words of her club members muted.

* * *

Waking up the next morning Sai headed down to the school building "Yukihira-san didn't come back last night again" he wondered it they were having problems since even Megumi didn't come back.

No time to think about that today's the day. Looking up at the clouds he thought about the last few days "Let's get to work" he sighed entering the aquarium.

Seeing Christina already there preparing a cooking table he came up next to her "Morning"

Turning she nodded "Good morning Sai today's the match right?"

Nodding Sai looked over the ingredients he was using "Time to chose what I'm doing"

Smiling next to him Christina gave a good luck thumbs up as he started.

Watching him begin a soupy substance Christina saw how he added the result into clam shells "Is this what you gave me last night?"

"Similar this one I used more potato starch" taking it she tasted it.

"It's good but something isn't right" Giving him a quick talk about the food Sai began to wonder something.

"Why is your specialty Seafood? New England uses them sometimes but not to this extent"

Smiling as if she was waiting for him to ask she answered "Because the sea is free. Wide and vast filled with mysteries and adventure doesn't that sound nice?" seeing his expression change she wondered what happened.

"That's it" smiling he started up the oven and placed one more dish in front of her.

"This is delicious!" widening her eyes she couldn't believe her tongue. Smiling Sai found himself satisfied by her expression. This will work.

* * *

Leaving the room Sai went down the hall and got directions from a few teachers and found himself in front of a certain room "We need to talk" Knocking on the door he gave a simple sentence.

A small stadium field with spotlights blasting down on the contestant stand students crowding the bleachers in careful anticipation the Shokugeki was about to begin.

"I don't know how but I got what you needed" Placing down the ingredient Souma nodded.

"Thanks Konishi-senpai" nodding they went to the stadium.

"Yo" they saw Sai waiting with a few coolers behind him "You ready?"

"Yeah Shiokawa-san" Souma was still wondering what brought Sai to do what he did but couldn't focus on that right now "I'll see you at the finish" nodding Souma entered the stadium.

"Shiokawa-kun looked a bit strange just now right?" Megumi asked before hearing the voices of the crowd and forgot about him. "There are so many people! Souma-kun don't panic and calm down" squirming to herself she began writing on her palm In times like this you have to write the kanji of person on your hand…" throwing air into her mouth Souma nodded.

"Yeah for now you swallow it okay?"

"Aren't you nervous? You're going to cook in front of so many people just thinking if it were me" her imagination got the better of her and she began to panic,

"Not at all I mean compared to standing in front of customers while carrying on your shops name this isn't scary at all" With a calm expression showing not a hint of tension Megumi's eyes saw Souma with a certain brightness which was when the lights suddenly shut.

* * *

Standing in the bleachers after storing the ingredients in another room Sai climbed into the stands trying not to stand out. It helped when the lights went off and a spotlight shot down on a single student.

"Thank you for waiting!" she started speaking into a mike "The Shokugeki administration bureau has recognized this match as an official Shokugeki" Black hair with some tied behind her head she was wearing a uniform "Soon it will start" with as cute of an expression as she probably could make with her childish face the crowd began to cheer.

Looking there was a fan club of guys yelling out and a group of girls giving out killing aura "Hey you forgot your headband!" Someone suddenly said next to Sai and he found himself close to the fan club group "Here you can use my spare"

Cheering out to her voice Sai didn't have a clue what he was doing "We have three judges the theme is Don! The main ingredient is Meat and now the contestants may enter! The first to appear is the meat master"

Motioning to a fully cloaked figure with long sleeves the crowd cheered and she took off the cloak "Mito Ikimi!" wearing only a flame patterned bikini top with short shorts the crowds attention was turned slightly as another group cheered and Sai noticed the announcers expression tighten.

"Still though does she keep that with her everywhere?" staring at the knife on her arm Sai thought of all the reasons she would keep that with her everywhere.

"What did you say?" sitting down next to him was Christina.

"Oh hey nothing really" taking off the headband he replied

She looked down at her "The Mito group owns a large meat company" she mentioned "Meat…" with a small voice she looked down to herself without Sai noticing.

"My parents sometimes buys meat from their America division but it was pretty expensive" he saw Christina looking at the stage with a strange amount of intensity "You're pretty interested in this"

She stared at him then looked down "So Sai do you like… meat?" with a nearly silent voice Sai mostly heard the insults being thrown at Souma as he came out.

"Everyone's booing him Yukihira enters with angry roars!"

"I can't wait to see you rookies expelled after what you did at the entrance ceremony!" Sai's head dropped.

"Whatever what were you saying C.T.?" he asked not seeing her face because of the darkness.

"Nothing" shutting him out he shrugged and stared at the stage.

Megumi was at the verge of crying when the announcer continued "Now let's go through this match's conditions again" pointing her hand towards Ikumi "If Mito-san wins the don research society will be abolished and Yukihira-kun will be expelled" turning to Souma "If Yukihira-kun wins the don research societies budget will increase their clubroom will be enlarged and they will get more cooking equipment along with Mito-san joining the Don Research Society!"

Staring at each other Ikumi spoke first "Transfer student! This will be the last time I'll speak with you if you have anything left to say now's the time"

Unwrapping the towel around his wrist Souma smiled "Really? But I'll be able to say them whenever I want later at the Don Research Society clubroom" suddenly seeing something in the private spectators room they saw to figures.

"Erina-sama?" "Why is she at such a small scale Shokugeki?" "Because Mito is part of her faction?" "Or is it because her assistant is having a match right afterwards?" "She would take her time just for that?" "To watch over the pair that declared war against her"

"Arato Hisako right?" seeing into Sai's stare Christina stop talking. He didn't even bother registering Erina's arrival only the arrival of her assistant.

"Sai-tan" turning she stared at the stage once again.

"Then Contestants to your kitchens" anticipation grew in the air "The loser loses everything a match of the tongue!" Raising her arm she threw it down "Let the Sholugeki start!"

Bringing out a large container instantly Ikumi called out "Transfer student! I'll show you an ingredient you'll never be able to handle in your life! Behold the ultimate meat!" A hanged beheaded cow came from the container.

Taking her knife she began to cut it up while it still hanged "Butcher knives because of their size are hard to aim but have amazing cutting ability to use it with this precision is pretty cool" Sai muttered watching.

"You must really like meat…" Christina mumbled.

"What? Of course meat is a great source of deliciousness" Sai replied smiling.

"America has a lot of beefy stuff like…" as she was about to start Sai listed them out.

"Triple size hamburgers, five-pound juicy steak, ten centimeter long super beef dog" she stopped him.

"I see lot of big dishes huh…" Sai nodded.

"Of course size is of one of the top importance in my view of american culture" you can find supersized pretty much anything in that country.

"I see…" Sai didn't notice her dropped gaze.

Back on stage Ikumi had just finished slicing up the meat removing all the lower-quality meat leaving only a lump of smooth flesh which glistened under the spotlight.

I'll take the best meat and cook it with the best of my skills at that time Ikumi couldn't possibly of had more confidence in herself. Placing it into a frying pan with butter she watched as the meat begin to cook and taking the butter and pouring it back over the meat.

"The venue is filling with the butter's rich smell! The hunger sensation produced just by that is amazing" the announcer along with the crowd started drooling as Ikumi placed the meat into the oven "On the other hand Yukihira's cooking it seems that he chopped up a great amount of onions and now he's bringing out the meat! What kind of ingredient will he use to counter Mito-san's grade A5!" without a bit of tension he took out the short loin steak from it's plastic bag.

"They had a discount sale I got pretty lucky" with a blank expression he said that.

"Don't screw with us!" the audience yelled throwing whatever they had.

"Hey Sai" Christina muttered "If you hadn't met senpai would you be doing the same thing?" Thinking Sai nodded.

"Most likely we aren't exactly well funded" Sai stilled dropped his head to Souma's actions.

Ikumi sighed "Enough of this you should use the remaining time packing" called turning back to the oven and took out a roasting hot piece of flesh. Poking it lightly letting out a few squirts of juice she brought the tip to her lips "Sixty four… Sixty five ok!" liking the results she wrapped it in aluminum foil and took another knife.

* * *

Sitting in the private viewing room Erina smiled "Do you know what supports her cooking?" she asked.

"The power that let's her freely handle the meat on the bone?" Hisako replied thinking.

"That's correct too but the truth lies in her sensibility" placing her finger on her lips she continued "The lips are an especially heat-sensitive part of the human body, even so her lips are so sensitive she can feel the exact temperature" and that delicate sensibility shines most when she's touching meat "Just watch her fingers as the gracefully spread themselves around the meat just like a pianist playing an elegant solo"

Hisako reacted to this statement and looked down into the crowd. It was only for a moment but she was sure her opponent was there.

Erina looked back noticing Hisako's reaction "Speaking of pianist I was surprised that Zack Thilian's brother is a cook" remembering the recording she got earlier that day "They're kind of similar don't you agree?"

Hisako looked at her confused "Shiokawa-kun's cooking and Zack Thilian's music as expected of siblings that grew up together" If Sai's cooking could be like the ocean. Tranquil yet fierce, limitless depth with adventure and full of mysteries, then Zack's music was like the sky. Endless and boundless with so many stars shining a light into a different world.

"I wonder which way it was" Erina poundered.

"What do you mean?" seeing her think Erina replied

"Was it his brothers music that influenced his cooking or Shiokawa-kun's cooking that inspired his music" the sound of his melody could match the taste of Sai's flavor. No it was almost as if they were made off of each other creating a new dimension.

"Now that I think about it you're match with Shiokawa-kun stemmed from that little accident didn't it?" nodding Hisako looked down "So what is your opinion?"

Knowing what she meant Hisako opened her mouth "It was-" she was interrupted when the judging started.

* * *

Finishing his dish Souma put it on plates and covered them "Be ready to start packing" Ikumi advised.

"Don't worry I'm not going anywhere" he replied with a confident smile.

"The judging will begin we're starting with Mito-san's dish" waving a plate with a small pile of rice was put right under a beautifully crafted glowing flower.

"This is an A5 Japanese beef Roti Don" letting the judges looked over it Ikumi gave it's name.

"Amazing the carved meat looks just like a flower I've never seen such a beautiful don" A Japanese woman in a Kimodo said as she took some of the dish along with the other judges and place it into her mouth. Her expression instantly exploded into a bright smile.

"This deep deliciousness is what makes A5 meat so amazing and even the fire's angel was calculated" the second judge nodded in approval "And below the flower petals is an outstanding garlic rice that was fried in beef tallow and butter I could eat three bowls of just this garlic rice" continuing to eat they slowly finished the meat "It's an unbelievable dish that was finished in a way that it's sexy! What magnificent craftsmanship"

With a confident smile Ikumi listened to the comments. This is the ecstasy of meat! turning over to Souma who was bringing out his own dishes.

"Will you introduce your dish?" the announcer asked.

"I call it Yukihira style Shalyapin Steak Don or something like that" placing down the don's the judges gave a disatisfied look.

"Shalyapin Steak… he made that cheap meat softer using onions creative but not enough especially after that dish just now" the judge sighed "I know right? I would like to go home with the after taste of the A5 beef" the others agreed.

With a smile saying he wasn't going to lose Souma lifted the lid and poured a small layer of sauce over the pile of onions making them stop talking and just watch deeply.

"It looks better the expected" he admitted raising his utensils. Ikumi watched having her eyes widen as the judges wouldn't stop eating "My hands won't stop! The meats tenderness goes without saying but even more so the sliced onions stimulates the appetite" he said.

"This body I see by using red wine to fry to the steak and used the concentrated oils to fry the onions" analyzing he came to that "Adding to the potato starch he used to give thickness to the sauce gives an entangling texture with meath and the rice" the second judge continued to smile "Arranged by the parched soy sauce he used burnt rice as a seasoning to deepen the flavor"

"Modifying the onions he created a special sauce moreover the meat and the sauce each have their own taste the more I eat the hungrier I is there another secret to this dish?"

Grinning Souma lifted a jar "The secret is that I used pickled plums and mixed it with the rice!"

Thanks to his explanation they understood "Can I have seconds!" one of the judges yelled "This don just makes want to keep eating!"

Not understanding their reactions Ikumi stared at her own bowl. They didn't finish the rice?

"You're wondering about the rice aren't you?" seeing her gaze Souma guessed her thoughts "The moment I heard from Konishi-senpai that you were using cured Japanese beef I knew that if gave the rice a strong flavor to match the beefs flavor they naturally counteract repelling each other"

Lifting up his hand "It might look like a don but it isn't the chief said it too" Drawing a circle he grinned "In the end Don's are completed in one bowl!"

"Even if you say that you can't win against my high-grade meat!"

"If you can't accept it you should try some too" a steaming bowl appeared before her "Hear them. The words of my don" simple yet efficient "It's done"

Taking it she scooped up some of the meat and rice and placed the dish into her mouth. Not stopping her expression softened until her eyes closed and a few tears came out the judges casted their votes

Whipping her face she stared at the screen announcing Souma's victory "It wasn't much" Megumi was yelling out congratulations as Ikumi saw Erina's disappointed face "Hey Nikumi let me eat some of your don too!"

"Don't get all cocky since you defeated me. And don't call me Nikumi!" Yelling out she struck back at Souma.

"Why? It's pretty cute if you write it in Hiragana" unprepared for such a comment Ikumi's face suddenly flustered "Best of regards from now on Nikumi-chan"

Out of words Ikumi turned and ran "Don't say that you idiot!" running out Souma called reminding her she was part of the don research society now.

"You're amazing Yukihira" the don chief came up "You are the only I can trust the Don Research Society too" deciding this he stared straight into Souma's eyes "The next Don is you! Yukihira"

"But-" Souma was about to decline his offer when the lights shut off.

"Now for the next Shokugeki Arato Hisako vs. Shiokawa Sai!" the announcer yelled out.

Getting off the stage Souma passed Sai "My turn" nodding they clapped hands "Don't lose Shiokawa" nodding he went out.

"Mito lost against Yukihira but now the match is against Arato can Shiokawa make a miracle shine down once more?" standing across from each other the pink haired secretary and the american chef stared at each other "The theme is seafood! The main ingredient is Clams! If Arato wins Shiokawa is expelled if Shiokawa wins neither Erina-sama nor Arato can have any knowing involvement in any negative effects regarding the Ocean Life Research Society!"

Christina jumped from her seat "What?" Sai told her it was because Hisako insulted his brother so why was the conditions suddenly changed?

* * *

Knocking on the door Sai heard a surprise yelp "Don't open the door I'm here about the Shokugeki" he called in.

"Giving up?" Hisako replied on the other side.

"No I would like to change the betting chips. Even if you apologies it's just a lie going through your teeth" Sai noticed it in the club room from some papers and some of Christina's attitude "Discuss it with Nakiri-ojousama but if I win neither of you are allowed to negatively impact the Ocean Life Research Society" stating the new conditions he wasn't sure if she would go with them.

* * *

On the field Sai cracked his neck "Thanks I won't lose now"

With a glare Hisako turned "It doesn't matter this will be your end" there was a small pitch change in her voice but Sai didn't bother noticing.

"Shokugeki Start!"


	12. Chapter 11

**Writers Note: To anyone that actually knows Chinese medicine my knowledge is anything I found on wiki so don't expect anything fancy**

* * *

Rushing to their kitchens Hisako began by dropping her clams in a boiling pot. I'll finish this for Erina. She thought as her hands moved grinding up herbs and mixing them together she poured them into the pot the clams were boiling in

"Arato-san starts with mixing together a number of spices into the clam pot and Shiokawa-kun is opening the clams by grilling them!"

Putting the clams on the grill Sai estimated he had a few minutes before he should do anything else to them and went over to the table and took out flour, eggs, sugar and other ingredients he needed and made a batter.

"What is this? Instead of a soup like in his previous match Shiokawa-kun's going for something entirely different? And look without being distracted Arato-san continues to now taking out the shells and placing the clam meat into a separate plate!"

The color of the clams were a bit different than usual which was thanks to the mix of herbs. Hisako reached out and put together similar ingredients to Sai and started kneading her own dough finishing she let it set and went over to a new pot and added a different mix of spices. Opening a new flame she started frying garlic in oil and another sauce she had prepared before hand. Taking out new ingredients from another cooler the audience gasped.

"Arato-san continued to make a soup and is now cutting up Horsefish! what kind of dish could she be making?"

Fluently cutting up the horsefish and removed the key components Hisako added them into the pot and began cutting up other ingredients "She's going for some kind of soup! Is this to go against Shiokawa-kun's first recipe?" That was her plan but it doesn't change how he was changing his dish. Speaking of Shiokawa-san I wonder what he's doing. Turning Hisako glanced at him and caught a sight of his cooking.

Leaving the batter he began filling a pot with frying oil and let it heat up and took the clams off the grill and began swiftly cutting them and removing small necks and other parts that will get in the way. Taking the batter he tasted a bit and added a bit of sesame oil. Dropping the clams into the mix he quickly put together a separate sauce.

Turning back Hisako finished adding her clam wonton into the soup and cooked the noodles. Watching the time she poured the soup into bowls along with noodles and roasted garlic.

Pouring flour and other ingredients into a new pan Sai began making something else and chopped up various dried vegetables adding them into the pan looking into a boiling pot of water he continued moving to mixing them together and started to lightly fry them.

"Time's up! Step away from your dishes!" the announcer declared when they both finished.

Sitting in the audience Christina clutched her chest "Sai…" watching him cook worry came into her "Why did you change the dish?" coming down the pair held their dishes.

First came Hisako who laid down a wonton soup "Clam wonton soup… there isn't much of an impact in it's design is there" the judges changed since Souma's match and were now a different group "Putting together horsefish meat and clam meat in wontons then used remaining parts of both ingredient added with chicken stock to create the soup" analyzing it the third judge smiled "A clear tranquil sea" they each slowly took bites.

Peace comes from within - Buddha

As the enlightened one has spoken peace starts in the mind and body. This level has been achieved by the three judges and before them laid an infinitely vast body of water. Not a single ripple could be found along the surface of the water. Truly the pinnacle of peace.

Seeing them reach enlightenment Hisako spoke "Using Jukujio, Shakuyaku, Senkyu, and Toki, I mixed them together into the soup while combining another mixture of Bakuga, Daio, and Keihi, boiling it with the clams" she began explaining "Using parts of horsefish to strengthen those elements I then fried garlic with lemon oil and placed it in before the Noodles"

Nodding "I see this perfect balance of flavors is without a doubt an absolute form of unity" they started "The noodles work magnificently with the clam wonton that greatly bring out the clammy flavor" they agreed totaling up their scores.

Hisako arranged it so that the judging method would be a point type. Unlike other Shokugeki's this type was that each judge gave a score from one to thirty and the points are tallied together. It's a popular method to show the differences in ability between two chefs which was what Hisako had in mind.

Sai was a bit curious to know what her score was bit had to bring up his dish.

"And now Shiokawa presents his dish!" putting it down everyone got a bit confused "It's… Calamari and chowder?" on the round plate was a ring of deep fried golden fries, and at the center was a small bowl of a bright white chowder with a red orb in the middle.

"Deep fried clams and clam chowder" Sai took a small cup and poured an elegant clear green sauce over the deep fried clams.

The judges looked at each and took one of the Calamari fries and dipped it into the chowder. Bringing it up to their mouths their eyes widened crunching down on the golden strips "What is this? It's so soft yet so tender" holding his mouth the first judge asked hesitantly "This sweet and crispy flavor doesn't hurt the clams natural taste at all" Hisako wondered about the judges reactions and something caught her eye.

Looking into his waste bin she felt something strange but couldn't put her finger on it. His cooking appliances were also a bit odd. There was the deep fryer, grill, pans and pots, a cutting board, and a coffee grinder? He also had a pot with still hot water in it and on the table was a highly precise weight measure . What part of his dish did he make with these?

Tasting more and more they kept going deeper and deeper but still found the dish mysterious "This chowder as well there's some kind of creamy impact it gives what did you do to it?" they all looked at him.

"Calcium powder" Sai answered "Onions, bay leaves, dried garlic, and a bit of egg yolks" listing out the ingredients he used Hisako got on edge "The Calcium powder when done right with other active ingredients acts in a similar way to baking powder using it in clam chowder took a lot of measurements to get it just right though"

"I see by using that you created a fluffier texture and this impact taste was from the egg yolks?" he nodded "What did you do with the whites?"

Smiling Sai gave him his answer "After taking out the clams I soaked them the whites for a few minutes then lightly fried them" he answers "But not before I beated the combination into the powder"

Hisako looked into the waste bin and found what was missing. Egg shells. After boiling them to clean them, he dried them and then grinded it all into a powdery substance. As much as that didn't sound right it doesn't change how he pulled it off.

"So that's why these fries have such an unusual texture" that answer was also answered "You grilled them in a way to make it so the clams would be quick to absorb moisture" swallowing the third judge licked his lips "Along with this sauce which has high viscosity leaving a strong aftertaste making one just want more"

"The sauce was a simple vegetable mix with very beaten egg yolks"

"I didn't think it would be possible but you've masterly made a dish that brings the full effects of eggs out while making the dish impossible to have without clams" poking at red orb Hisako felt like he was poking at her heart.

Eggs wouldn't of worked well in this and the circumstances favored her and yet he still managed to created a dish through his specialty form.

"That's baked egg yolk after being beaten and layered in a caramel mix" Sai explained the red orb once again mentioning his use of eggs "I did that before making the sauce" giving a timeline they began to wonder how he did all this in so little time "I figured a desert like treat would be a good end to the dish"

Taking a spoon they scooped out the last little piece and crushed it between their teeth. In a sudden explosion of fresh, sparkling, fireworks crackled through out their mouths. Swallowing one of the judges gave a dissatisfied face "That last piece had quite the overpowering burnt taste" he commented taking some water.

"Really? I liked it" the other judges agreed on that.

"Oh! A great review! Does that mean Shiokawa might stand a chance against Arato!" The announcer spoke up after staying silent for so long "Please write your points!" she yelled.

Turning to the board Christina held her hands together in a prayer.

"The result its in! Hisako: 23, 25, 26. Shiokawa: 27, 28, 19!" two judges scored higher for Sai which made Hisako panic a bit.

"Wait isn't that…" Sai muttered doing the math faster than anyone in the room.

"Both contestants got a 74! For the first time in Shokugeki history they got a tie!" she exclaimed "By the rules there are a few ways to go along with it… they can have another match at another time, both chefs agree to the draw and both get the reward or both lose negating the betting chips!" reading a rule book she gave her explanation.

I shouldn't of used that last part. Sai dropped "Looks like it's another Shokugeki" if they want to both be victorious then the clubs safe but Sai leaves. As much as Sai actually would be fine with that he didn't want to admit defeat here.

"It looks like they follow-up with another Shokugeki!" the announcer declared.

"No"

The hall went silent and everyone stared at the person that spoke those words.

"We won't be having another Shokugeki" Hisako declared staring at Sai.

The crowd started buzzing "Is she going to make him surrender?" "Obviously Arato won't lose again Shiokawa should give up while he can" "Makes sense" Listening to these Christina wanted to jump down but knew she couldn't interfere with Tootsuki's sacred tradition.

"Shiokawa-san hear me out" Hisako walked over to him.

"As much as I would like too, I can't leave yet but I still have to fix the problem I made Arato-sama" Sai gave a firm declaration.

She nodded "That's why we both lose here" Sai's eyes widened "It's a draw so you'll stay enrolled and if you're really caring about that Research Society then I should tell you that neither I nor Erina-sama had plans on attacking it"

His shoulders dropped "What?" He felt that he made a huge miscalculation and misunderstanding.

"The Ocean Life Resource Society has a growing record the fault of a single member shouldn't effect the group as a whole he was already planning on giving up his ranking to someone else at the time as well" she explains more of why they weren't going to attack them and Sai felt utterly defeated.

"This match was a draw! It's been decided that neither of the participates will get any prize!" Dragging his body away from the questioning yells of the crowd, Sai found the waiting room and just straight on passed out on the couch.

* * *

Going up to the waiting room Hisako went up to Erina "I apologies for meeting such an unsatisfactory end" she said bowing two of the three judges liked his dish more than hers if the judging method were the usual way she didn't want to imagine it.

"No, Hisako you put up a good match this could be better than a loss or a win" she explains getting up and turned "Any how regarding plans for the Ocean Life RS-" Hisako spoke up.

"Erina-sama. If I may, is it possible we do not do anything to the research society?" she asked looking down "This entire event came from my own actions if my match was never arranged then Shiokawa never would've challenged them"

With a slightly confused stare Erina sighed and smiled "Fine I'll allow it" Hisako's expression brighten.

Bowing the pink haired secretary showed her deepest respect "Thank you"

Erina smiled and looked down at the stage where the pair of transfer students were just standing moments ago "This just shows you that this generations chefs might have more fight in them than we originally predicted" she looks down at the location where they fought "Mysterious isn't it?" Hisako followed Erina out the door looking back.

She described him as the ocean. A silent unnoticeable calm filled with unanswered mysteries and impossibilities that goes against common sense, in moments can explode into a while hurricane if the situation ever calls for it, yet deep under that surface, hidden away from un-trusting eyes was a beautiful treasure.

Maybe it wasn't so bad that she lost to him.

* * *

Finding him in the room Christina was slightly hesitant on waking Sai. Taking out her phone she took a picture then shook him awake.

"Yeah?" Sai answered groggily wondering why he was so tired.

"You tied with Arato-san! That's amazing!" she gave a congratulations "Now I want you to explain two things!" She lifted up her fingers "Why did you change your bet and why did you change your dish? You used too many eggs!" she cried.

Getting up Sai looked down "Sorry about the bet but it was my fault that something might of happened"

Christina shook her head "Sai, it's our Research Society! Whatever problems any of us cause we'll fix it! If it was because Senpai lost to you than it's his fault! We aren't so weak to have to be protected!" she declared.

"Sorry… but in the end it was unnecessary to begin with" he sighed "And about the dish… egg's are my specialty" he answered.

"But you had a great dish! It was that last thing that made it so that you got a lower score from that one judge! One more point!" she sat down next to him "I'm sorry for yelling I was worried that you might get expelled if you messed up"

Sai shrugged "I was thinking that too but you know after I came here I made a certain dish for an unrecorded battle" he thought about the weird sushi thing he put together against Satoshi "I was angry for the weirdest of reasons and made it without considering how I could use my specialty" he wanted to prove something that went unproven "This is my sharpest weapon I have to make use of it"

Christina sighed "Fine it looked like it worked anyway" getting up she waved "See you tomorrow…" the match was over and what he won from their senpai was gone he had no more reason to go to the Ocean Life Research Society.

"See ya C.T." he waved and fell back over on the couch.

It doesn't matter. She decided. I'll just have to find him some other times.

* * *

The following day Sai was walking with Souma to school "You went through all that, and didn't join the Don Research Society?" he couldn't believe it.

"You didn't join the Ocean Life Research Society either" Souma replied.

"Well yeah but you were so… I don't know how to explain how you were over at the club room, I just fought with the Ocean Life and then for them by chance"

Separating Sai went into the classroom he hasn't been in for so long and went back to the desk where his pink haired opponent was sitting with her eyes closed and ear buds on.

"She's listening to music before class again" "I wonder what Erina-sama's assistant listens too" "She's been doing that a lot now hasn't she?"

Picking up those words he sat down startling her "What… Shiokawa-san" she took off the earbuds.

Staring at each other the table fell into an acquired silence. It was silent enough that Sai heard what was coming out of her ear buds "Motherly Bloom?" he noticed the song and without permission he took one of the buds and put them in his ear.

"Wait! Stop!" Hisako didn't move fast enough and Sai listened.

"This is Zack's piece at one of his junior competitions…" he looked at her.

She fidgeted and twitched a lot getting a bit red "It's not that bad when you listen to it enough" she made that excuse.

"Okay…?"

Sai gave back the ear bud and she took a deep breath calming herself "No that was a lie" she admitted "When I first listen to the recording I may have accidentally opened the wrong file" Sai dropped to the ground. The entire Shokugeki stemmed from a single accidental misunderstanding. It was a bit depressing.

"At least you like it" getting his strength back Sai smiled.

"Yes, I do" she looked away embarrassed that by the events three days ago "And that's why I'm sorry for making such a statement"

Hearing those words Sai gave a light bow. In the most respectful way he could make it Sai spoke "Thank you very much Arato-sama"

She looked back and whispered something. Seeing that Sai didn't hear her she spoke up "You have equal culinary abilities as I do from here on please call me Hisako" Sai nodded "Don't forget to add Sama" before Sai could respond the teacher came in.

In a white chef uniform an italian man stood before the class "My name is Chapelle Roland let us begin the lesson" he declared.

"Let's go Sai" Hisako confidently said knowing their teachers reputation.

"As you wish Hisako-sama" they began their class.


	13. Chapter 12

Waking up in the morning the black-haired Asian boy stared at the ceiling "It's been almost a month huh" he remembered he told everyone back home he would be back soon but it didn't look like that was happening.

It's been a few weeks since the Shukogeki and Sai's been able to adjust to his strange new life.

Looking outside he saw the sun starting to rise in the distance and quickly got changed. His dad sent in his other things once Sai found a place to stay so he didn't have to go out and buy a bunch of random stuff.

Going out Sai took a deep breath of air and just started running around the areas close to the dorms. Like usual he saw Satoshi wearing pretty close to nothing out on the field and Shuu examining his smoking wood.

"Sai good morning!" Megumi called from one of the vegetable fields.

"Morning" he ran over to the Japanese girl with twin tails "Working on the farm like always?" he looked around the field.

"Of course we have to keep our fields alive" Megumi explained with a bright smile. A Japanese farm girl works to well for this girl. Sai thought about how he kept seeing her panicking during Souma's Shukogeki.

"You guys are planning to harvest soon right?" Sai remembered her mentioning that the day before. Looking out to his pretty much naked senpai plowing the fields Sai wondered how he was okay with wearing that on such a chilling morning.

Going out to the front of the dorm Sai grabbed the school newspaper and looked over the headlines "Mimasaka defeats his latest victim, Aldini's fanclub grows in numbers by the hour, rumors of the suicide duo's next attack…" he stopped at that one and wondered why a cooking school even had a newspaper club.

Running back into the dorm Sai took out a pitcher of home squeezed orange juice and poured himself a glass "Morning Shiokawa-kun" Souma yawned walking down the staircase.

"Morning" giving him a glass of juice the two stared at each other. The atmosphere around them suddenly tightened as they began their new ritual showdown.

"Jan-ken-pon!" throwing out their arms Sai opened his palm while Souma only let out two fingers.

"I've never lost this many times in a row before what the heck?" some how it came to this arrangement. Since they both eat breakfast at about the same time they would have a match of Rock-paper-scissors and the loser has to make both their breakfasts.

Souma just grinned "You shouldn't be surprised I'm not that bad at this myself" this guy is way too lucky and carefree. Was the only way Sai could put it.

Turning back into the kitchen Sai took out a carton of eggs, a few leftover vegetables from last night, a potato, and some of the smoked bacon Shuu made but wasn't going to use. Cracking the eggs he heated oil in a pan and mixed soy sauce into the mix along with finely diced vegetables. Washing and peeling the potato he shredded the skins and added them into the eggs.

Separating the bacon slices Sai tossed some black pepper and roasted garlic powder on them. Cutting the potato into thin slices he put them into a small bowl filled with water and began to rinse them. Seeing the pan heated he began cooking the seasoned potatoes and opened up two more pans.

Putting the bacon into the pan after seasoning them and eggs into the other he began cooking all three parts at once. Finishing putting them together he put the plate before Souma "American-style breakfast enjoy"

A light omelet with mixed vegetables, next to crispy and delicious slices of bacon, finished with a round dark golden hash brown. Digging in Souma smiled in delight "I can't get enough of this deep crispy texture!" crunching on the bacon and hash browns through his teeth, he took a piece of the omelet "Even the eggs! The vegetables were all cooked to a sweet tender level but still brings out the full cushyness of the omelet!"

Smiling Sai began eating his own portion. After finishing Sai started washing the plates and Souma looked over at him "Hey I've been wondering but you jog every morning like that right?" Sai looked down at his black track suit.

Nodding Souma asked his other question "How early do you get up?"

"I got up about an hour ago… this is my usual pattern, you see ever since I started getting basketball about a year ago I would wake up an hour earlier than normal, sneak out the window to not wake anyone, run through the park until I ran out of time, and came back made breakfast for everyone and take a shower"

Since getting to Japan he realized he didn't have to do that anymore but he still wanted to keep his usual routine just in case he got expelled and had to go back home.

"Thinking about it I didn't take a shower yet" stretching his arms he remembered what he had to do after he finished cleaning.

"You must really like to do sports" Souma commented a bit amazed since he never did too well himself.

Putting away the dishes Sai stopped "Yeah… but it doesn't really matter now I guess" he went to the door "Besides it's good to regularly train our stamina each day, it keeps us healthy"

Taking a refreshing shower Sai brushed his teeth and checked the time "Morning classes today is a written one right?" he wondered getting changed into the black winter uniform.

Going out he met up with Souma and Megumi who also finished getting dress. Megumi was in her usual uniform while Souma just wore the jacket like always "Let's go" Souma said seeing him come down.

Heading out they went down the now familiar path to the school. After going up and down the path so many times Sai got used to some of the sights but still had no idea what to make of others.

Stopping at an industrial skyscraper he found out a while ago it was for business and marketing classes, the traditional Japanese buildings were used for tea ceremonies or celebrations, he still never got to finding out what the windmill was for.

Sai also caught sight of a western styled mansion that was in a much better condition than the polar star dorm "Hisako-sama and Nakiri-ojousama live there right?" looking at his watch he didn't have time to wonder and increased the pace of his steps.

Separating from Souma and Megumi, Sai went to his class. The room reminded him of a college lecture hall but it was pure white so each student in their black uniform stood out a bit.

Going up the rows he sat down next to a pink haired girl who was reading a book while listening to something "Good morning"

She looked over "Good morning Sai" she put down the book.

Catching a glimpse Sai got a bit confused "Isn't this a medical book?"

Hisako nodded "I review my base medical knowledge regularly" she explained and Sai remembered her dish a while ago.

"Chinese medicinal herbs is complicated, my grandmother talked about it a lot but I didn't know it could be used in cooking" Sai commented remembering the dish she made.

"It can, chefs in ancient China that served the emperor also used medicinal herbs" Hisako explained and had been wondering about something "Hey Sai, you work at a Thai Restaurant but aren't you Chinese?" his skin tone was too light for a usual Thai person and he's even said his grandparents were Chinese.

"My parents grew up in Thailand but both my grandmothers are Chinese" Sai explained "My moms dad is Japanese, and my dad's was Thai" which made him one-fourth Japanese, one fourth Thai, and half Chinese.

"I see" with a simple nod Hisako wondered what else they should talk about. Looking at her book she also noticed something else "When did you learn Katakana?" she remembered on the first day Sai had troubles reading the recipes that were written in Japanese.

"I finished memorizing Hiragana and Katakana just last week before that I've been reading translation books to bed" Sai sighed remembering it. Why does a country need so many writing styles? Was the only question in his head since dropping down in Japan.

"That was still pretty fast" Hisako commented seeing that he wasn't able to read basic Hiragana when they first met.

"I watched a lot of anime before coming to Japan I guess I've been subconsciously learning it for a while already" as he said that the teacher came in.

"I'll be handing back your test today anyone that got under a C will have to take supplementary lessons" she said organizing her files. Getting back their test Hisako didn't think too much about the A on her sheet. Sai barely managed to get a C so he wouldn't of had to take extra lessons "Review what parts of the test you've missed and return them with corrections" the simple order.

Taking out his text books Sai worried about the curriculum at this school. He was never good with history to begin with but now it was Japanese history and the History of Cooking. There were also a lot of Philosophy regarding the creation of new dishes in the past he had to learn.

Back in America Sai wasn't bad at studying, but learning Japanese literature, grammar, and calligraphy wasn't easy no matter how motivated he was. Due to that he's had a bunch of supplementary lessons on the language.

The Chemistry classes were also incredibly advance but since formula's were the same anywhere Sai was able to keep up with the occasional help from his table partner.

The only class he felt he still had an advantage in was math since no matter where it's used or for what numbers will always be numbers.

Then there were the written half of the cooking curriculum. Luckily there was enough review from last year and the numerous books he borrowed from Zenji, he was able to get at least enough understanding to keep from failing.

Finishing the last lesson Hisako stretched her arms "We have lunch now, I have to go meet with Erina-sama so I'll see you at practical classes" she waved leaving.

"I wonder what's it like being the secretary of an Elite Ten member" Probably a lot of paper work and schedule arrangement. But Sai remembered the entrance exam where Erina went on her own and changed the entire thing "Must be tough"

Leaving the room he went out into the courtyard where a familiar girl was waiting "Hey Sai!" Christina waved.

"How was your trip?" The Ocean Life Reseaty should've went on a delayed trip to a fisherman's market yesterday.

"It was pretty fun most of the fish were pretty nice like…" she opened a box "This is some Atlantic cod I prepared last night" Looking into the box Sai saw a smoked fish with it's skin and bone removed sitting on top of rice with a crimson sauce dripping down the side.

With a side of vegetables the dish was all fitted into a small box "Not bad here I have Thai Pad See Ew" Sai opened his own lunch with thick rice noodles with a brownish color stir-fried with onions and broccoli and fried eggs "It's expected at a cooking school to have to make all your meals huh" sitting down Sai mentioned.

"Yeah it was like this back in middle school to" Christina remembered as they ate "Even though it's an elite school with every staff member being an experienced cook"

Drinking out of a bottle of water Sai looked up at the sky "How are teachers chosen anyway?"

"Most of them were critics or owners of their of food chain" Christina remembered "But there are other ways too"

"I guess that makes sense but the entire staff has a weird feeling" maybe because this was a Japanese school or something but something about the Tootsuki staff gave a different feeling then back home.

Christina shrugged and remembered something "Hey it's should be around that time of year isn't it?" she wondered.

"What?"

"Right you're a transfer student, I'm talking about the first-years first hell of Tootsuki" Christina remembered "The Friendship and Rapport Training Lodging"

The what? Sai wanted to ask when he happened to looked up at the Tootsuki building and noticed a pair walking through the hallway "Hey it's Hisako-sama and Nakiri-ojousama" he pointed.

Christina looked over at where he was pointing and saw it was on the fifth floor through the window a beautiful golden haired mistress passing through the halls with a strawberry blonde secretary following close behind.

"You have really good vision" she commented squinting her eyes.

"Really? Never noticed" Hisako saw them and gave a light wave.

Sai waved back "Hey… I've noticed it a while ago but you started calling her Hisako-sama" Christina glared and raised her chopsticks "Say Ah~"

He turned confused seeing her hold a piece of fish in her chopsticks "Um… C.T.?" he saw behind her smiling face the image of a great white shark that just caught the fresh scent of blood.

"Say ah~" she repeated thrusting the chopsticks at Sai.

"Wait! Ah!" he screamed as the fish landed in his mouth "Oh… this is pretty good fish" Sai tried to ignore the pain in the back of his mouth.

"Right? I used a lot of different seasonings" she explained how she prepared it from the night before "Here want some more?" she asked raising the box.

"I'm good, besides I'm kind of allergic to Atlantic Cod" Sai covered his mouth slowly.

"What?" Christina was sure she misheard that until Sai suddenly turned and ran to the nearest bathroom and puked.

Coming back slowly when lunch was coming to an end Christina was pacing in worry "Sai! I'm sorry are you okay?" she ran over.

"Yeah, I'll live" he should've mentioned it faster or earlier that he couldn't eat Atlantic Cod.

Collecting his things in a nervous silence they went back to the school building "So you're allergic to Atlantic Cod…"

"Yeah it's just Atlantic Cod though, it's really weird I was perfectly fine when I prepared it but then I ate it and found myself in the bathroom" Holding his stomach Sai explained when his uncle caught it.

"I'm sorry" she bowed.

"It's alright" Sai waved heading back to his own class "See ya later"

Getting changed into a pure white chef uniform Sai looked over it "I never really liked these" back home the uniform was black and an apron so this was one of his biggest transitions. He wasn't wearing the hat. Sai didn't care if it was against a chefs etiquette he never liked the hat since his sister always made fun of it.

Getting into the room he got back to where Hisako was checking the equipment "You seem fine" she muttered seeing him.

"What do you mean?" Sai responded confused.

"I saw you run away suddenly from the girl who was so kindly feeding you"

Tiger… why was there a tiger standing behind Hisako?

"Yeah I got a stomachache I'm fine now though" she clicked her tongue in annoyance.

Class started and they were given a preparation assignment to prepare ingredients for tomorrow's lesson "Who was she anyway?" Hisako asked asked cutting up potatoes.

"C.T.? She's a member of the Ocean Life Research Society" Sai answered cleaning and peeling the potatoes as fast as he could to keep up with Hisako's cutting rate.

"Ocean Life? Isn't that the Research Society you fought against?" Hisako remembered the details.

"Yeah it was for their ingredients, I met her the next day at the club room" Sai explained peeling the last of the potatoes and began peeling the beans that have been soaking up water.

"Oh what was her name again?" Hisako asked with a low voice.

"C.T. Titania Christina"

"I see you know it's estimated that at least four hundred students will get expelled during the Friendship and Rapport Training Lodging" she looked away with a dark light.

"Training Lodging?" Christina was saying the same thing.

Hisako didn't reply and instead looked out the window "After classes Erina-sama has to go to a meeting regarding the event doesn't she?" Leaving Sai wondering the day slowly came to an end.


	14. Chapter 13

Sleeping soundly with a pleasant smile a Japanese chef with a scar over his left eye was having a deep dream when it was interrupted by a booming voice "Good morning Souma-kun! Today's a nice morning right?"

Rising from slumber the chef wondered why he was being called "I want you to help me with something! Can you come outside once you're dressed?" Souma turned to the speaker and sighed.

Souma fell back onto the bed "I stayed up late last night, call someone else…" he began to snore.

"Don't say that!" the ceiling tiles moved revealing the hazel haired senpai.

"You were there!"

Getting changed Souma headed out and saw Yuki dressed as well "Yukihira! You got called too?" she yawned.

"You too? What are we helping with anyway?"

"It's harvesting time out in the vegetable fields behind the dorm" she explained smiling.

"Oh… So he even grows his own ingredients"

"There's a lot of people who do that kind of thing here" she grinned "Ibusuki cuts the wood he uses for smoking himself, Ryouko's specialty is cooking using 'Shiokouji' so, she has her own workshop close to the dorm" She pointed in the direction where her own pen should be "Like France has Bresse chicken, I've been trying to make 'Polar Star Chicken' so I've been grazing and raising them myself"

Slowly they got behind the dorm "And now, The field managed mainly by Isshiki-senpai!" widening her arms she showed him the field "A plantation where ten different species of vegetables grow!"

Gazing around in fascination Souma caught sight of a figure plowing away at the ground.

"Good morning, Souma-kun, Yoshino-kun! Doing manual labor in the morning makes your heart healthy!" standing tall and proud with with only a Fundoshi over his lower half "Let's work up some sweat together!"

"I don't know why but that suits the guy" Sai sighed making the pair jump out in surprise.

"Shiokawa-san! When did you get there!" Yuki cried.

"A few seconds ago senpai asked me to come out here after I finish running with some light breakfast" in his hand was a paper bag.

Seeing them, Megumi came over "Look, Souma-kun! We could pick this much" she said happily.

"Tadokoro, you were here too?" Souma asked and looked over her appearance "This time… it suits her in a relieving way"

"Megumi is the polar star's refreshment" Yuki agreed confusing the farm girl.

"Now, My friends come here!" their senpai gathered them in one place "Knowing how ingredients ripen is part of the study of cooking. This is the polar star field or you can also call it Isshiki field if you want!" he said "Here, have a bite" he handed Souma and Sai one of his products.

Taking a bite out of it Souma's face filled with delight "It's firm and really sweet! I would really like a stock of this back home!" he grinned "It's amazing you can get this kind of quality!" he smiled.

Sai took a second bite and licked the juices off his lips "The peel is pretty easy to penetrate but it's still just enough to contain and grow the vegetable" he looked around the field. Even though he ran around them a number of times he never actually took a good look inside.

No fruit trees but that's to be expected but there was still a chance they had water melons or something. I wonder if this place grows potatoes.

"Well, I've been so devoted to this, I haven't had time to go to any of my classes lately"

"That doesn't sound right for an elite ten member" Sai sighed wondering how he picked a fight with guy.

"Besides, Shiokawa I've been wondering what's in the bag" Yuki asked.

"Breakfast. It's hard to do stuff in the morning without a wake up call right?" Sai took out a semi-flat cylinder.

"Hey is this…" Souma took one.

"Breakfast burrito" they stared at him "I was in a rush okay? You said as soon as possible" they each took one and bit into it.

Their eyes widened tearing out a chunk of flavor "What is this? It's really good!" Yuki exclaimed. Inside was the juicy texture of lightly grilled meat supplemented by the sweet melting flavor of scrambled eggs, a light salsa sauced was mixed in with parsley and mushrooms. But there was still some deeper texture inside.

"The wrapping is kinda sweet don't you think?" Souma asked taking another one.

"I kneaded the it with some dried peaches I found" Sai replied "I also added some onion and garlic to balance out the sweetness variables"

Yuki finished hers and gave the aluminum wrapping back to him "Now let's get to to the harvesting!" Satoshi declared after they finished eating.

With the sun blaring overhead the group began simple farming work when Shuu and Ryoko came over to held.

Getting up Souma patted his back "Ah my hips hurt"

"Are you an old man?" Sai commented while Yuki was complaining about food.

"Everyone! Lunch is here!" Megumi called everyone together.

"Oh you made something Tadokoro?"

She nodded with a bright smile "I woke up early to make it" she put down the wrapped box and opened it.

Looking inside they Souma grinned "After working in the fields we eat Onigiri huh?"

Yuki enthusiastically put her hands together "Itadakimasu!" she grabbed one and took a bite "Delicious! It's Negishiodare, right?" with a delighted smile Yuki took another bite "By dressing the boiled chicken breast in negishiodare the sauce spreads all over the surface of the onigiri!"

"It's well known that after working the human body craves salty flavors" Sai remembered biting into it.

"This one has Konbu! It's pretty standard for Onigiri" Satoshi took the next one and took a bite. Widening his eyes the Fundoshi-senpai exclaimed "Konbu tsukudani and cheese?"

"Yes! Tsukudani's rich sweetness unexpectedly goes well with chess"

"What's the last one!" Souma couldn't hold back and grabbed it "Amazing! I can't get enough of this garlic taste!"

"You see, that one is pork pickled with garlic and honey!" Megumi explained "I boiled pork back ribs until the meat got soft, then I lit it pickle for one day inside a mix of miso,sake, and honey. It goes really well with rice so I cut it into small bits and made Onigiri with it" With a expression of bliss she took out drinks "I also have barely tea and roasted green tea so drink the one you prefer"

Everyone took a cup and entered a calm tranquil state of mind "To bring peace to the people who eat it, this is the charm of Tadokoro-chan's cooking" Satoshi exhaled.

"The Chicken breast isn't dried out and the pork's softness is just right! These were all carefully done!" Souma complimented but then gave Megumi a curious look "Why can't you do this in classes?"

Megumi shot back as if hit by an arrow "I… have stage fright… when I get nervous I can't think and make mistakes…" with gloom hovering above her Sai patted Souma's shoulder.

"You really hit it where it hurts, don't you"

Souma shrugged "Don't worry, you just have to relax with you cook Tadokoro!"

Yuki shot up her arms "Yeah! Megumi-chan will become a great chef and if not a great wife!" she cried out but the cloud of gloom remained.

While they were laughing to each other Sai bit into the second onigiri "Cheese… maybe I should try some new mixture for the breakfast dish" Sai remembered that dish he made for Erina. He always thought cheese would work really well but tried a bunch of different methods and still didn't get a satisfactory result.

"Come to think of it I haven't worked on it for a while" he was going to have to get back to that.

* * *

After finishing out in the field they all brought in vegetables and Sai grabbed a packet that was at the front gate "Hey! The school sent us something!" he gave them the folder and Yuki's eyes fell.

"It finally came…" dred couldn't be hidden from her voice.

"What's this?" Souma asked seeing the packet.

It was a stapled packet with a funny looking cartoon character and a dog of some kind, pointing out to the future.

"Training Lodging? I kind of heard about it" Sai never did get the details.

"You guys had them in primary and middle school too, right? It's an outdoor trip for a few days" Yuki explained.

"American kid here" Sai pointed out.

"Oh! So Tootsuki even has events like this too" Souma smiled but then pointed at Megumi "If that's it, why is Tadokoro trembling? The smile she had before seems like a lie"

Pure white with an expression equivalent to death standing before her eyes. Gloom and negative weren't enough to describe the aura of hopelessness coming from her.

"Well you see, this training camp is the first hell the freshman students are thrown into!" Yuki's eyes shook "All of the first year students are assigned with rigorous cooking trials everyday on the training lodging, located in the middle of mountains people say that anyone that doesn't get a passing mark are instantly expelled right there!"

The people who knew what it was trembled "It's called the friendship and rapport training lodging but in reality it's the 'Cruel elimination' training lodging!"

"This is Tootsuki's competitive education. The academy director would probably say, the 'jewel' selection has now begun!" Satoshi warned them having already gone through it.

"Right you're a senpai" they forgot for a bit.

"Yes" he nodded still wearing only a Fundoshi "Even in my generation, every day dozens of students were expelled it was truly a tragedy"

"It seems that a few years ago the number of first year students was less than 50% after this training camp" Shuu recalled a rumor.

"Everyone…" they heard a low voice "Thanks from everything you've done for me" Megumi's body couldn't take it anymore and fell down onto Yuki's arms

"She finally fell!" Yuki panicked "Megumi!"

Reading through the packet Souma looked over the rules "We can bring card decks and board games… portable game consoles are no good though" he flipped the page "Isn't the bath time a bit short?"

"Hey! Yukihira! Aren't you getting a little to careless? Megumi is even speaking her last words!" Yuki screamed as Sai gave her some warm tea and a towel he grabbed.

"I've never been on a school wide camping trip" setting those things down Sai went over and looked over Souma's shoulder "Does it say anything against fireworks?" they began discussing the trip.

"These two transfer idiots!" Yuki couldn't take it.

"What are you talking about? Half survives, right?" Souma turned the page "We just have to be in the surviving half" as if stating an everyday fact Souma wasn't fazed at all.

"You said we can be expelled at any moment right? Isn't it always like that here?" Sai pointed out taking the packet.

They looked at each other utterly stunned "I'm confident too" Satoshi smiled "That the polar star dorm will come back safely. Until then leave the house to Fumio-san and I" with a charismatic smile he spoke again "You all should just do your best!"

Ryoko smiled "He's right"

"These guys can actually say some pretty useful things!" Yuki's eyes burned in anticipation "We are the polar star dorms members! We'll clear that training camp with ease!" she decided.

* * *

That night after putting the few things he needs in a bag Sai sat on top of the roof right above his room reading the copy of the packet Fumio made "Expulsion on the slightest mistake… this would be the perfect time to leave" he muttered listening to music "Man… I really don't want to go just yet" he cursed to himself wondering what everyone back home was doing.

* * *

Over the preparation time everyone slowly got themselves ready for the trip and when it finally came "Aren't there just a few too many busses?" Just from seeing them and simple math clearly showed there was a lot of free space on each bus "It couldn't just be to show off, right?" there was definitely another reason but he couldn't figure it out.

"Doesn't matter" Souma grinned "It's time! Let's go to the Friendship and Rapport Training Camp of Hell!" he declared leading the polar star dorm.


	15. Chapter 14

All they could do was look up. There wasn't much else to say about the actions of several young chefs of Tootsuki as they stood before an enormous, pure white, pristine, skyscraper.

"How do I say… as expected for a rich school" even Souma was overwhelmed "They even have a hotel like this"

"Tootsuki is the parent organization of all the hotels and Ryokans in this area" Shuu explained.

"Nothing I hear surprises me anymore" Souma sighed and turned to Megumi, Yuki, and Sai who were just staring.

For Sai who has seen his fair share of extremely expensive hotels in Miami this one easily made the top five "I was totally expecting some kind of Mountain Cabins like in Anime" was also something on his mind.

"Dozens of inns are managed with the brand name 'Tootsuki Resort' there're a lot of cases of the school's Alumni getting cooking jobs at these resorts" he continued "Only during events like these they don't accept any outside guest" Shuu looked up at the tower "I've heard a single night would normally cost somewhere about eighty thousand yen"

"Eighty Thousand! For one person!" Yuki cried.

"That's already the rent for a month!" Souma stood in shock.

"Eighty Thousand yen… that's almost seven hundred and fifty U.S. dollars" Sai not knowing what else to think over went straight into doing math.

"Are we really staying here! I'm getting excited" Sparkles shined in Yuki's eyes.

"Only it we survive the first day" Shuu dropped.

"Ibusuki… you always ruin the mood" she complained.

"I'm being realistic" he pointed "Look we have to gather now"

Going into the incredible banquet hall Souma looked around noticing something strange.

"There are almost a thousand students here but I can hear heartbeats" Sai just felt a dark chill.

Souma noticed someone walking around "Hey is it Nikumi?" he called over startling the girl "Its been a while" he waved going over.

"You aren't nervous at all are you!" Yuki screamed in her heart.

"Yukihira!" Ikumi turned around in a fluster.

"Hey, Yukihira! Why are you calling her by her nickname?" Yuki asked since no one did that.

"Well, I have her consent, right, Nikumi?"

"Like hell you have it!" she screamed at him "Geez…" she turned and noticed the people around them acting strangely towards the transfer students.

"Be careful, Yukihira" she warned.

"Why?" Souma asked confused but Sai nodded in agreement.

"The atmosphere aside I don't like how people are looking at us"

Before he could explained the speakers came on "Welcome ladies and Gentlemen" this took everyone's attention "Pay attention to the stage" Roland Chapelle stood on the stage "I'm going to explain the outline of the training camp"

The tension in the room probably double in an instant.

"The Friendship and Rapport Training Lodging. It's scheduled to be six days and five nights. Everyday, you'll be given an assignment related to cooking, the contents of these assignments vary every year. On the first day the nine hundred and eighty students will be split into twenty groups, after this explanation is done you must go to the place you're appointed to. If the lecturers' evaluation for a student goes below a certain line they are immediately expelled"

So that part was true "About the judging we invited guest lecturers" this caught the attention of several students "As busy as they are, they gathered here just for today. They're Tootsuki academy's Alumni"

Alumni. That single word made every frozen body in the room widen their eyes. All for a single reason.

The group slowly entered the room taking the spotlight.

These were the miracle geniuses that actually passed the school with a graduation percentage of less than 10%!

The man leading the group lightly sniffed the air "You, The boy on the ninth line" he said "The boy with the scar on his eyebrow" Souma pointed at himself confused "As, sorry the one next to him" Sai repeated Souma's actions.

"Other way" they looked to Souma's right to another student "You're expelled" an axe was swung "You may go home"

Chatter was spread across the room as the Alumni walked up to him "Your hairdressing produces a citrus smell, that may overshadow the food's aroma" giving a lecture the Alumni smiled "Being stylish is a must, but if a person that makes food, is out of fashion the food loses it's sensuality"

Students around him sniffed the air and did notice a light citrusy smell "Starting next time try a odorless hair gel" he turned.

"Wait! I'm expelled just because of this-"

"You can lose clients just because of that. Do you want to shut down my shop?" with a tense voice of absolute authority the ex-student of tootsuki couldn't fight back.

"That's chef Shinomiya! He's the first Japanese that won the French Purusupooru medal!"

Comments on the other chefs also shot out like lightning "'F's' chef Mizuhara and even "Hinowa's" Head Chef Sekimori!"

"There are all amazing people! They've all appeared on magazines!" Megumi spoke amazed.

"The simplicity of a white clover" a voice made her look in another direction "I might have been born to meet you… don't you want to talk all night in my auberge?" a handsome Alumni took Megumi's hands.

Not knowing what to do Megumi began to fluster in panic when a dark voice came behind him.

"Let go of her hand chef Gotouda"

"Hinako huh" the chef let go of Megumi's hand which ended up in the hands of the Japanese woman.

"I'm sorry… he made you have a scary experience" she softly touched Megumi's face "By the way, you're pretty cute… ah you look very filling" smiling with a caring, motherly face the teacher glared at the Alumni harshly.

"Come to my shop one of these days" she offered leaving a speechless and steaming Megumi.

The one that stood out the most was a tall man with a lightly shaved head "That's Doujima Gin! He passed the graduation exams with the highest scores in history and manages all the Tootsuki resorts cooking!"

Several students had different reactions "I'm moved" Zenji almost began to cry "The star chefs that lead Japan's culinary world are lined up in front of me!"

Sai stared at each of them and clutched his shaking arms. This feeling… it was the same as when he met Erina. No even more intense. Fear, excitement, overwhelment, human words couldn't even begin to describe the light standing in front of them.

"Welcome" Gin took the microphone "To Tootsuki Resort" with a grand voice he began speaking "The Alumni that gathered today are all chefs that have their own shops. For the six days of this training camp, they'll be treating you as if you were one of their own employees. Do you understand? For the people that don't satisfy us" he swung his thumb across his neck "You're fired"

"As you can see, you may be forced to leave immediately depending on the lecturer's decree. I wish you all the best of luck and now, Start moving!"

"See you!" Yuki waved.

"Yeah" Shuu expressionlessly replied.

"Let's have a card tournament at Marui's room tonight!" Souma grinned.

"Don't gather in my room during times like this!" Zenji was busy trying to get his act together and didn't have time to really yell at them.

"What card game? It can't be a Japanese one!" Sai mentioned heading out of the hall.

* * *

Getting to the kitchen Sai looked around the room "It's a combination of some of the other homeroom classes" Hisako explain coming up next to him.

"Really? That makes sense" Sai was wondering how the groups were going to be prepared "Nine hundred eighty freshman in twenty groups. That means there's about fifty people in this room"

Hisako nodded "Fifty began but fifty won't end" she was sure of it.

A single error can lead to expulsion "May I have all your attention please?" an Alumni walked in.

It was a woman with short black hair and a composed expression similar to Ryoko "I am Shiraishi Tamaka an Alumni from the seventy fifth generation" she gave a simple introduction "As you are aware I shall give you an assignment and you will do you best to pass"

Her eyes brightened "You have two hours to make a dish" she said "Use the ingredients in the cabinets to make the dish on the you're assigned" she motioned towards the back board which already had all their names listed out "For this assignment you'll each be paired up with the partner you have for homeroom now begin"

It took a second to register since she said everything so suddenly and quickly but the students quickly ran to their kitchens. Sai ran to the back and found their names and got over to Hisako who was looking over the ingredients they were given.

"It said recipe number twelve" he told her.

Hisako reached out and looked at the recipe lists they were given and found it "Chocolate Lava Cake" She just found the name. Nothing else came with it not even a picture.

"That sounds oddly simple" Sai commented expecting something a bit more intense.

"Maybe not there's no recipe at all just the name of the dish which means we can customize it in our own ways" Hisako looked over the rest of the list and found mostly desserts.

Sai suddenly shivered "Is something wrong?"

"No… but I feel like I need to attack Yukihira-san for some reason" Sai muttered staring at his hand.

* * *

While that was happening:

Smiling the red haired boy stared at the italian foreigner "You grinded for over ten seconds,I can assume it was on purpose then, correct?"

"Naturally" he smiled "I expected that we would meet during this camp, but to think it would be on the first assignment" with a confident smile he challenged Souma "I'll crush you Flat! Just like I will to that other other transfer student!" he declared.

Megumi panicked in the back not knowing what was happening and attempted to make peace.

* * *

Clenching his fingers Sai shook it off "Whatever let's get to cooking"

"Okay this will be different since we don't have a written recipe for now I'll start on the chocolate sauce and you start beating the eggs" she ordered.

Taking the carton of eggs Sai nodded "How many?" he asked taking the bowl.

"Two whole eggs and two yolks should work, make sure to add four tablespoons of sugar" she wrote out the recipe for Chocolate Lava Cake in her mind "Keep whisking until it starts foaming and if you have time butter the inside of the Ramekins"

Hearing her orders Sai took the eggs and cracked two of them at the same time using both hands and then used only his right hand to cleanly separate the yolks from the whites dropping the whites into a separate bowl.

"You're good at that" Hisako commented as Sai added sugar.

"My sister always complains of how I do stuff slowly so I came up with fast methods to do things" Sai used his right hand to beat the eggs while using his left to cut the butter and spread it inside of the ramekins.

Using his thumb to keep the ramekins spinning and controlled with his left, Sai also constantly adjusted the amount of force around the bowl with his right hand for maximum effects without having it spill over.

Hisako started heating up the butter and chocolate while watching him "You're hand control isn't normal" she saw him use both hands as if they were his dominate.

"Yeah I'm Ambidextrous" Sai explained finished with the ramekins and used stared whisking the eggs at full force.

Come to think of it this is the first time I've been able to really watch him cook when we're together. Hisako realized bringing over a bit of cocoa powder and added it to Sai's bowl as he was mixing.

Taking the melted chocolate and butter she carefully poured it into Sai's bowl "Okay this is where we'll start making adjustments from the usual… just keep mixing"

Walking to the oven she turned it on to preheat and then began taking spices from the cabinet and began putting together a small mix "This is cinnamon, brown sugar, vanilla, and light salt do you think it would be affective?" she asked showing it to him.

"I'm not sure…" he took a small bit of the batter and tasted it "It is a bit too sweet" they exchanged looks and nodded. She poured in the mix after adding a final touch.

Pouring the contents of the bowl into the ramekins she then put them into the oven "Should we do any topping decorations?" Sai asked needing instructions.

"Ice cream works with lava cake but what flavor should we have it?" Hisako wondered thinking of the possibilities "Chocolate cake so how about vanilla?"

Sai grabbed milk and heavy cream while Hisako measured sugar and vanilla. Coming together they both poured it together into a large bowl and began mixing it.

While Sai mixed Hisako thought about the assignment "How do I say… it feels to normal" she thought when someone yelled out.

"Um.. Shiraishi-sama, our freezer isn't working" they called "Our's is set too low!" "The stove broke" "Where are some of the ingredients for this step?"

Her eyes sharpened as Sai walked passed the oven and stopped "Hey Hisako-sama… did you turn off the oven?" he asked putting out his hand.

"So this is it" she cursed not seeing it coming and saw a dark smile from the Alumni,

"I'm sure everything was prepared as needed as chefs you must be able to deal with minor problems such as this"

Hisako went to the oven "What's wrong with it?"

"It's on but there's no heat. It was functioning just a little while ago too" Sai also figured it out "The group that was making sponge cake is also in a similar situation as us, the group that was putting together Japanese pudding has a broken freezer… it looks like it was mostly appliances that are necessary for the dish"

They couldn't use another teams since those were probably also damaged but they needed a different way to bake the cake "Maybe… no that won't work" Hisako put together all her knowledge to come up with a solution.

"We can use the stove and put it in a pot then cover it" Sai suggested thinking of the physics.

"I don't really like that idea. Yes it might work but…" Hisako didn't have a good feeling about that plan.

Thinking wildly Sai looked at the clock "We need to start baking soon… it's almost six" Sai came up with an idea and went up to the Alumni "Is it alright if I go and grab some of my things?"

Her eyes sharpened "I don't mind if you make it back in time"

Hisako went up to Sai "Do you have a plan?" she wondered what he came up with.

"Maybe it's about four in the morning back home the chance of him sleeping are low" he muttered words that confused Hisako and ran to the bus he came on. Running to his things he grabbed his laptop and opened up skype.

Hisako tried to keep the dish cooking by boiling water and putting it around the Ramekins when her partner ran over "Sai! Where were you we need to come up with something!" she yelled.

"Sorry!" Sai in one hand was holding the laptop and another holding a small box. Going behind the stove Sai opened the small portable toolbox and opened up the stove.

"You're going to repair it?" Hisako wondered seeing him "Do you know how?"

Sai shook his head listening to his headset "Yes it's a girl now what do you think?" he spoke in english so Hisako couldn't understand him.

Pointing a camera into the inside of the stove with a light Sai listened to the voice "Simple enough" he reached in with rubber cooking gloves and followed the instructions on the other end "Hisako-sama does it work now?"

She turned it on and nodded "It's on!"

"Thanks I'll make you whatever you want when I get back" Sai promised closing the laptop.

Having almost no time to spare they quickly finished up the dish and delivered it to the Alumni who already failed countless amounts of improvisors.

"You fixed the oven… Who did you call?" she asked after tasting the dish.

"A best engineer of the robotics club" Sai smiled "That guys doesn't sleep though"

That was the first time someone managed to actually fix the damaged utilities. Having connections with the right people was also a good virtue of being a chef "Pass" she smiled. This is an interesting generation.

Relieved they pair got onto the bus "Nice thinking" Hisako smiled.

"Yeah I'm glad Lance was actually awake" Sai was sure his girlfriend was trying to get him to sleep more.

"Lance? Is that his name?" Sai nodded "I see" she wasn't sure how to get her next words out.

Quietly sitting on the ride to the main building, Hisako was staring out the window "Hey Sai" she started getting his attention "Thank you" stuttering at first she managed those words.

Seeing a confused expression she explained "If it wasn't for you I'm sure I wouldn't of passed this test" she looked at him a bit flustered "I'm glad it was you who's my partner for this"

Looking at her Sai shook his head "You don't have to be" he leaned back "There were at least four ways you could've solved that problem I just chose my way"

Shaking her head Hisako didn't think so "Lots of others tried every method I could think of only forty percent of them managed to pass" there was a lot of careful precision she wasn't 100% sure she would be able to execute.

"Come on Hisako-sama, From our Shokugeki I know that you're a great chef I don't doubt you wouldn't made that forty percent"

Without a shred of dishonesty in his voice Hisako's face matched her hair "H-hey Sai" she muttered "Is it too long?"

He looked at her wondering what she meant "My name… you can leave out sama…" she tried but furiously scratched her head "I can't say it" leaving Sai confused neither spoke for the rest of the trip.


	16. Chapter 15

Reuniting with his dorm he saw most of the others done "Shiokawa-san! You're here!" Yuki waved.

"Yeah, Still alive on this end" he ran over.

"I just got word" Shuu hanged up the phone "All the polar star members survived!" everyone smiled happily.

"I'm so Glad!" Megumi was at the verge of tears.

Sai looked down and knelt besides the body on the floor "You call this a survivor?" he heard Souma asked while checking Zenji's pulse.

"It seems he ran around the mountain the whole time" Shuu explained.

"So he had a similar assignment as ours then"

After the feeling of relief ended Ryoko sighed "But this was truly a tiresome experience"

"I'm dead tired, it's hard to even move" the majority of Megumi's stress was caused mostly by the pressure of the camp.

"What are you saying! It's time for our rewards you two!" Yuki declared "Dinner, a bath, guest rooms! All of which are probably at the highest of Luxury and just gorgeous! I for one I'm going to enjoy it to the fullest!" With a pure expression of a passionate enthusiasm she spread her arms wide in the air.

Suddenly a group of muscle packing men appeared and took on poses greatly enhancing their body structure "Those who finish dinner can have free time" Sekimori gave them instructions.

"Who are they!" Yuki cried her fantasies coming to an end.

"They are the people of the bodybuilding club of the upper arm university that are having a training camp at a nearby facility. The people from the american football and the wrestling club will come by later" he gave simple introductions "Each of you has to make fifty meals"

Once again a weight was dropped without warning "Question! What about dinner?" Yuki cried out desperately.

"Those who finish their fifty meals should make their own dinner"

"We're making it ourselves? What about the gorgeous dinner?" Yuki shook.

"There's none of that" a quick answer brought Yuki to the point that the polar star dorm could hear her heart cracking "Be sure to know that as long as you're here, you'll be making all of your meals"

Taking out a pocket watch he gave one last instruction "Those that can't finish this assignment in the next hour, will be expelled"

Hearing this the students ran to inside into the kitchens "Marui-san! You're one of the only normal people at that dorm! You can't die!" Sai had to carry the nearly dead boy with glasses.

Getting into the kitchen no one even registered the words "Start!"

Sai started up a few stoves and began cooking. Aside from the sounds of chopping up vegetables and cooking meat there were too many voices.

"Don't get in my way!" "You're being slow!" "I can't do this anymore!" "Nothing I do will get any better!" "I Quit!" perilous voices and screams came from everywhere and no matter how fast people worked the line just continued getting bigger.

"This place sounds like hell" he muttered finishing his last meal "That makes fifty right?" Sai went over to the chef who nodded.

Leaving Sai looked at the map "Should I go the room first?" there was also the bath option.

Getting to the room he unpacked his things and grabbed a spare change of clothing "Right we were given a Yukata when we came here... maybe later" he went out and to the bath.

Walking down he heard a voice "I wonder if Hisako will finish soon I want to go play UNO" a cheery voice muttered out.

Looking at the map Sai turned the corner and saw a golden haired princess wearing her chef uniform "Shiokawa!" Erina suddenly yelled startled.

"Oh. Hey Nakiri-ojousama" he looked up and then around "Do you know where the baths are? I'm pretty sure I got lost"

She nodded and pointed down the hall "Take a left after… wait how long have you been walking around!" she yelled.

"A few minutes" he turned "A left after this way…" he stared back at the map.

This man finished before I did? Erina couldn't believe it. Hisako did regard him as a decent chef but that speed wasn't normal.

"Thanks" he waved heading down the hall again.

* * *

"Yukihira Souma, Finished Fifty meals"

"It wasn't much" Souma sighed taking off the towel.

To fast! Yuki commented "I bet mine are tastier than yours!" Takumi yelled and got yelled back at.

"Well then, I'll be in Marui's room!" Souma yelled back.

"You don't have to come! I plan on sleeping early tonight!" Zenji screamed.

"Yukihira… you're a tough guy" Yuki sighed and watched the other students frantically run around "He's the first one out… huh?" she felt like someone was missing but when her beef began burning she had to refocus her thoughts.

"That said, even if I'm first, I've got nothing to do… maybe I should see what's on?" Souma muttered and walked pass a bath sign "That's it! A bath! I can monopolize the entire bath if I go in now!" he ran back to the rooms to get his things.

While heading down the halls he suddenly smashed into someone. Knocking her down the pair looked at each other "Yukihira Souma!" Erina glared at the boy.

Covering up her exposed self quickly Erina wondered why of all the people she would meet it had to be the rude transfer student.

"Sorry! Are you okay, Nakiri?" Souma reached down "Did you twist your ankle or something?"

"Stop I can stand by myself!" she yelled back getting of all people did it have to be this man! If it was Sai again she might've been alright with it since he at least showed some respect where this man...

"At any rate, for you to be humming like that, you're in a really good mood aren't you" he bluntly spoke "Who was! I don't recall that!" Why does this guy irritate me so much! She cried.

"Well, I can understand why you're so cheery, I mean we're staying at this amazing place. I brought things like card decks and Hanafuda" Souma smiled imagining it.

"Don't lump me together with you!" she ordered calming herself back down "This is a worthless event. They call it the training camp of hell, but it's nothing more than tedious for me" she waved "However, I wonder on what day will you drop out. Watching that might be entertaining"

Souma stared at her "Don't make my laugh, you were even walking so cheerfully" he teased.

"Erina-sama!" they heard a voice down the hall "I apologies for the tardiness! It took more time than expected!" a pink haired girl ran up to them "Yukihira Souma!" she yelled seeing him "You bastard, what are you doing here!"

"Well I kinda pushed Nakiri down" Souma answered.

"What!" Hisako yelled.

"Don't say it that way, you idiot! It'll cause misunderstandings!" Erina yelled.

Before she could continue they noticed steps coming from down the hall "How many days…" a voice of depression echoed "How many weeks?" it sounded familiar but they shivered.

"Hey is this place haunted?" Souma asked when a dark figure came from the corner.

"How many years?" dragging a good as half dead body across the floor they saw a boy wonder by.

"Sai?" Hisako yelled seeing him.

The boy turned and ran over "I finally found someone!" he cheered to himself going to them "I thought I was going to die out there"

Erina looked at him. He was still wearing the same clothing as he was when they last met even though she already had time to finish her entire bath "What have you been doing?" she asked him.

"I got lost" he fell "If I continued wandering maybe my spirit will finally find it's way out? But leaving my body to be discovered by some visitors, maybe Zack will play at the funeral?" he was speaking pure nonsense at this point.

"How the heck did you get lost!" Souma laughed.

"I forgot how much I hated hotels, All the hallways look the same and the maps don't ever make sense" normally he was pretty average when it came to navigation "Whenever I get lost I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose my mind" getting his screws back and tighten he actually looked over the group he ran into.

"Why are you guys together?" he asked.

"I pushed Nakiri down onto the ground" Souma answered.

"I said don't say it like that!" Erina yelled.

Looking between them Sai sighed "Yukihira-san you're an idiot" Sai was already well aware of that for a while though.

"Anyway Shiokawa, where are you going?" Souma asked.

"I'm trying to find the bath" he remembered his objective.

"Sweet I'm going there too, gimme a minute to get my stuff" he ran down the hall.

"Hey! Wait up! I don't want to get lost again!" he yelled at him and turned "See you later, Hisako-sama and Nakiri-ojousama" with that he chased after his fellow transfer student.

Seeing them go off Erina's gaze tracked them until they turned "Even though they're both transfer student's they're both so different" Souma couldn't of annoyed her more. When they first met she compared them to dogs that couldn't understand a gems value but it was more like a wild dog where the other was a trained dog.

"Anyway Hisako, you should go finish your bath" Erina said.

"Ah yes… and Erina-sama good news" Hisako clapped with a smile "I asked down in the reception office and it seems they're willing to lend us card decks and Uno!"

The irritation of the red haired boy returned to Erina "I won't play that" turned she childishly pouted.

"Eh? But Erina-sama, just before you-" Hisako was a bit confused.

"I won't play something so Happy-Go-Lucky!" She declared not making eye contact with Hisako.

The pink haired secretary wondered what was wrong "Did something happen?" she asked worryingly.

"Nothing!"

* * *

Grabbing his things Souma swung the bag around next to Sai "Geez, what's with her sometimes" he sighs "She's just plain annoying"

Sai whacked him in the back of the head "What was that for!" Souma yelled.

"Not sure. I'm pretty sure you deserved it though"

"Ah whatever! Let's just go soak in the bath to calm down" Souma grinned getting into the changing rooms.

Grabbing the towel Souma ran into the bath "Well I'm off first!" he cheered with Sai close behind who wrapped the towel around his waist.

Suddenly they both stopped. The sight of a muscle bound body with a perfect tan completely overwhelmed them.

"Hm? Two more came" Doujima Gin looked back "Sorry, It's my daily routine to give my body maintenance while taking a bath"

So Scary! Was the only thing bolting through their thoughts and hearts. Although it didn't take long for that all to change.

"Man! I was so excited to be the first one here, but not only you but even Shiokawa-san came along" Souma laughed his heart away.

Gin laughed "Sorry, you're one of the first students so settle with that" Looking at him Gin smiled "Both this year and last year as well, it seems we can raise some nice students"

"Last year?" Souma asked.

"The fifty meal test is done simultaneously in various kitchens, so I take my bath earlier so I'll be out before any students arrive, But last year, there was also a man that finished early" Gin recalled the sparkling image of the hazel haired young chef "Currently he's the seventh seat of the Elite ten"

Both Souma and Sai raised an eye surprised to hear that their Polar Star senpai also met with Gin.

"He was a tough man" Gin looked over to the other side of the bath where Sai was sitting with a towel on his head wondering if he was doing it right. Unlike Souma he didn't interact very much with the conversation and seemed kind of nervous being there with them.

"As expected from Isshiki-senpai" Souma spoke in awe when a thought hit him. Widening his eyes he came to a thought "She… finished her fifty meals faster than I did?" he muttered recalling that Erina already finished her bath completely.

"You mean Nakiri-ojousama? Yeah I met her outside the kitchens when she finished she was done before you" Sai heard him than answered.

Souma looked up feeling something weird about what he said but Gin also spoke up "Nakiri Erina… the directors granddaughter huh? I've heard rumors about her" he thought about them "Like all her baby food was made by the academies senior lecturers and Alumni, or that she was able to accurately distinguish eight different variations of salt by tasting them blindfolded"

This caught both of their attentions "With her 'God's Tongue' the rumors have nearly no end. But, her strength is the real deal to of become the youngest person in history to join the Elite Ten" he looks up at the ceiling "If things go as expected, She'll become Tootsuki's greatest masterpiece to ever enter the professional Culinary world"

Souma and Sai looked at each other "At any rate, she's still raw material" his voice strengthened itself "A devil's den where Talents are brought together to devour one another, That is Tootsuki" Gin looked at the two "You haven't dropped passed the shallow levels yet. Polish your fangs to your hearts content!"

They nodded "I'm planning too" Souma grinned.

"Yeah also Doujima-senpai, what do you think is worth the seventh seat of the elite ten?" Sai asks getting him a curious look.

"Why do you ask?"

Sai gave a depressing laugh "Even if it was spur of the moment I challenged Isshiki-senpai for his spot on the Elite Ten so I kind of have to go through with it"

"Haha! Challenging someone for their seat on the Elite ten…" it seems like Tootsuki's going to become a rather interesting place for the next few years "For your question… if you obtain the eighth seat you could challenge him but then there's the problem of getting the eighth seat"

Sai already thought about that but that also meant going down the chain he would have to go against Nakiri Erina and he didn't have anything she could possibly want.

Souma looked over "Hey Shiokawa, I've been wondering when did you finished your fifty meals?" he asked.

"A while ago… I know I was the first one out of our group" he didn't really think about it.

Souma's eyes sharpened wondering about his statement "Even before me?" Souma already knew the answer.

"Yeah" Sai shrugged "Fifty meals in an hour. The recipe was beef steak each dinner plate would take an average of eight minutes since all the preparations like Marinating and cooking the rice were already done. All we had to do was put it together on a plate with vegetables and soup" He recalled most of what he found "There was even a limit of how many meals we had to make" Sai really liked that part.

Souma gave him a confused look.

"Compared to working at a kitchen in sport stadiums right before the championship games, this is nothing" remembering that hell made it easier for Sai to maintain his composure during this assignment.

Gin laughed "I see, so that's how it is"

"Yukihira! Are you here!" an Italian dude slid in "I fell behind but-" he saw the company "Chef Doujima!"

"Looks like I've overstayed, I'll be leaving now" He got up "Anyway this camp just started. Make sure to properly take care of you body" Holding out both his hands Souma and Sai took them "Do you best from tomorrow on"

"Thanks, Doujima-senpai" they both responded.

"Yukihira! Don't you know that person?" the Italian guy came over.

"Yeah, he's Doujima-senpai right?"

"Yes, no that's not it, why were you two shaking hands so cheerfully!" he cried then stared at Sai "You're that other transfer student correct?"

Sai nodded and from somewhere a glare came from him "My name is-"

"This is Aldini Takumi" Souma came in.

"Yukihira you… never mind" slowly he regained his thoughts "You're Shiokawa Sai, Correct? I may not have won against Yukihira but be prepared I'm sure to step over both of you"

Sai tilted his head "Who are you?"

"He's an Italian Chef I met during the exercise today" Souma continued introductions.

"I can say it myself!" Takumi yelled.

"Italian… so you want to beat my right? The only Italian dish I can really make is a Fettuccine" Sai looked over at their Alumni senpai who froze for a second while ignoring the chef in front of him.

* * *

Yukihira… I've heard that name before.


End file.
